A Different Life
by DarkLux
Summary: Thirteen-year-old G. Callen has been missing for two months, kidnapped by a dangerous man. He is rescued from his misery by NCIS Special Agent in Charge Sam Hanna, who decides to take him in. Will G make it?  Rated for first chapter only
1. Connection

This is the first time I (willfully) write about something non-anime related. NCIS: Los Angeles is simply an addiction right now, personally speaking, but like it's the first fanfic I write about it, please correct any mistakes that you see, it will be appresiated =D

Anyways, this is a slight AU, as I changed Callen's age and with that, the position of Junior and Senior in the crew, but there is not much.

**Summary:** Thirteen-year-old G. Callen has been missing for two months, kidnapped by a dangerous man. He is rescued from his misery by NCIS Special Agent in Charge Sam Hanna, who decides to take him in. How will G cope with the struggles of teenage life?

**Warning:** Chapter one contains rape.

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_**Chapter 1- Connection**_

It was quite an agitated day in the NCIS headquarters located in Los Angeles. The organization had been working on various different cases, but the one that had them the most concerned was special. A man had been kidnapping various people before they were found killed in the streets no long later. As of now, the man had been missing for at least two months before a contact informed them that he had been seen near their office, and that had the whole team running around the place to prepare.

"Agent Hanna." A short woman, around four feet nine of height, with brown hair that didn't get to her shoulder, and dark brown eyes called.

A large, bald, black man turned around to face the source of the voice as the woman approached his desk, hands behind her back in a tense stance.

"'Sup, Hetty?" he asked. He knew better, of course, the woman was his boss, after all, but then again, she was laid back in those kinds of situations.

"You need to get moving," she began motioning for other two agents to approach her; one was a man with tousled blond hair and gray eyes. The other was a tall woman, with black hair, whose right eye was a darker brown than the left. "They have found the suspect, John Miller, in Mission Road, he was entering a gray building, indicating that it is for sale, as far as the description goes."

They immediately sprung into action, grabbing their equipment as fast as they could and running out of the building. They lost no time in jumping into their van and driving to the given street, knowing that every second that passed, was a second less they had to rescue the victim before it was too late.

_**&%&%&%&%&**_

"P-please… st-top." Was the pained whisper coming from the beaten up body in the floor as a door opened and closed with a loud sound.

The person on the floor was a boy, barely older than twelve, with icy blue eyes. His head was covered in way too much blood for anyone to decipher the color of his hair. The rest of his bare body was covered in the dark red liquid as well, coming from the many wounds that covered him.

The only response the boy obtained was a painful kick to his side before a man grabbed him roughly by the arm, his long fingernail penetrating the tender skin while he smiled at him menacingly.

"You're going nowhere, you little fuck. No one wants you, no one will even notice that you're gone." Said the man; he had brown hair, and dark eyes that dug into the boy's hopeless ones.

The boy let out a whimper, too hurt from their last torturing session. They had been happening ever since he was first kidnapped, over two months ago. He had been walking down the street when the man suddenly grabbed him by surprise and had forced him into a car.

The boy didn't say a word, just looked at the man, unable to move his body. The adult suddenly scowled, letting go of the arm, and causing the boy to fall back down onto the cold, hard floor. He grabbed his face with a calloused hand.

"Why are you staring at me, brat?" he yelled before smirking. "You like what you see?" he questioned, motioning for his own, unkempt face. The only response was a hard breathing, coming from the damaged boy.

That earned him a hard smack; before the man bent down to catch the victim's lips on his own. He unbuttoned his pants and quickly removed them in front of the frightened boy's eyes as he placed a gag on the boy's mouth to silence him.

The blue-eyed teen whimpered, doing his best to move his beaten body away from the older male, but he was too weak to do so.

John lost no time in spreading the boy's legs to his sides, despite the child's whimpers and suffocated yells. The man, not caring to prepare the boy for the intrusion, quickly took his member, placing himself near the entrance of the boy's butt.

Not even a second went by before he thrusted inside, earning a loud scream from the child below him. John immediately smacked his face in punishment for doing so, only receiving tears coming from the teenager's eyes.

The salty liquid only seemed to anger John even more. He quickly began to move in and out the small hole, drawing blood as the thrusts became more and more violent each time.

"You're enjoying this, you piece of shit, don't pretend you aren't." the man grunted without stopping his movements.

It continued for a while longer, John not stopping to give the young victim a chance to recover properly between thrust and thrust. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man came inside the boy. He took his dick out of the abused area before buttoning his jeans once again, exiting the room without much of a glance back and leaving the boy alone in the dark.

**-+-+-+-+-+Victim's POV+-+-+-+-+-**

Dark. There is nothing to see here, there are no windows, nothing that could possibly tell me the hour, or just how much time I had to relax before that man would come back. Not that it mattered; I couldn't move to escape even if he didn't get here in time. I am going to die in this place.

I hear loud noises, noises that I have never heard while in here. They're angry yells, and… are those footsteps? Maybe I am imagining things.

I'm proved wrong when the door opens, showing a black man. He is big, with broad shoulders, and gigantic hands. He is holding a gun, and pointing it at me before moving it towards the walls. I think he notices that I'm alone because he lowers the weapon, and then he looks over his shoulder.

"Clear!" he yells "There's a child in here, but no Miller!"

"Help the child, we'll search for Miller!" that's a girl, or at least, I think it is, I don't think I can distinguish sounds anymore.

The man walks towards me, and I know that my breath hitches, but he stills kneels beside me, his legs resting in the blood. He takes off his big jacket, and places it over me. It hurts, it's too heavy, and so I whimper. I don't want to, but I can't help it.

"What's your name, boy?" He asks. I just look at him. I don't know my name, I've never been called by anything more than a nickname, or last name.

He gets closer to me, and I tense. He's going to hurt me, I know it.

But he doesn't.

He sits me up, and takes the dirty rag out of my mouth. That is actually a relief, so I close my eyes and feel how he wraps his jacket around me completely.

"You're safe now, boy, please tell me your name." he states.

I open my eyes as he picks me up easily. It's too much; I can't resist the jolts of pain that run through my body. I feel like I'm going to faint, the corners of my vision become black, but I try to stay awake.

The man repeats the question, this time he changes his grip on me, so he probably noticed that his touch hurt. But I don't know the answer.

"G. Callen." I whisper to my rescuer. If I don't know my true name, then I will tell him what I know.

**-+-+-+-+-+Sam Hanna's POV+-+-+-+-+-**

"Eric, is there any information about him?" I ask to my ear piece. There is hesitation on the other side of the line as I hear the boy, G, apparently, cry out in pain.

I'm doing my best not to hurt him, but the injuries are everywhere, and I have no idea where to grab him.

"_Very little." _The man calls _"Turned thirteen three weeks ago, no parents. He escaped from various foster homes, and he has been missing for a little over two months."_ He informs. That's it? There is no way there is no more information about this child, is there?

"Anything else?" I call, stopping for a second to get a better hold on the kid.

His face becomes one of pure agony when I try to balance him on my hip, so I change my hold on his body again and he tries to recover his breath. I like this kid, most of the people that I have been able to rescue don't try to fight for their lives like this kid is doing.

"_Not much." _Is the reply I receive from my ear piece when I begin to move again, G's head resting on my chest as I support the rest of his body with my arms. _"Has been in twenty foster homes and has had perfect grades while in them." _That's not much help.

"Fine, call 911, tell them where we are, this child needs medical help." I say, and a commotion starts on the other side of the line.

As I approach the first floor of the building, my eye catches sight of a shadow. Following my instincts, my grip on the child's body tightens, and I hide behind a wall, carefully pulling out my gun.

A hand touches my shoulder and I turn around as fast as I can, covering G's body with my own. I sigh in relief when I see who it is. Kensi.

She takes a look at the battered boy in my arms, and I know she feels bad for him. I take a quick glance at him as well, and his tired blue eyes lock with mine for a second. And that is enough to know that I need to protect him from everything.

**-+-+-+-+-+Normal POV+-+-+-+-+-**

Kensi signaled at the room in silence. There was something there, they both knew it. The woman took a look at Callen, and then glanced up at her companion. He wasn't going to let go of the boy, so she had to do it by herself.

She nodded at Sam, understanding the delicacy of the situation; if he dares to leave the boy, even for one second, he is not going to let himself be picked up again.

So the Senior Field agent walked into the room with her gun pointing at every direction. A noise alerted her, and she hid herself behind an old desk located in the room. She peeked out, watching as the figure of John Miller moved hastily towards the door she had come in just a few seconds before.

Pointing the gun at the man, she shoot four times, not wanting to leave any doubt on her mind that the perpetrator was dead.

The man fell on the floor with a thud, blood abandoning his body and staining his shirt, the white shirt he was wearing becoming red.

Not long later, Sam appeared at the door, eyeing the body closely.

"Nice." He said "Where's Deeks?" Sam then began walking towards the front door, the body in his arms beginning to tremble.

"He thought Miller had left, so he walked out." She explained, following her partner outside of the building.

The sound of an approaching ambulance could be heard in the distance before it appeared, the red lights illuminating the adult's faces.

Various paramedics jumped out of the ambulance, four of them holding a gurney, which they took in front of Sam.

"Sir, please put the child in the gurney." Ordered one of the paramedics, taking off the blanket that covered the wheeled medical bed.

Sam nodded his head, carefully removing his jacket from around G's body. Besides him, Kensi gasped, not expecting such damage. The boy was beginning to be placed in the gurney when he weakly reached out, trying to grasp the fabric of his savior's shirt.

"No. please." He whispered in a voice that was barely audible.

Sam caught the hand, knowing that the boy was too weak to achieve what he wanted to do, while one of the men placed the blanket over G's bottom half, blocking his privates from further sight. The paramedics began to roll the boy away and onto the ambulance, where the teenager began to shiver once again.

"Sir, are you going to climb with him?" The only woman asked as her companions strapped G to many machines and the gurney was attached to the floor.

The aforementioned looked at Kensi, as if he was asking for her approval. She simply shrugged her shoulders before nodding. The man smiled and hurried to climb into the ambulance, hoping that the ten- minute-ride wouldn't be the time when G. Callen gave his last breath.

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_Well, there we go, I hope that you liked it, or that it was at least mildly interesting, haha. _

_In any case, plase leave me your thoughts. If you want something to happen in this story, I'm open to suggestions, and will probably use those that work with the story. _

_Also, I have aquestion for you guys. _What are you allergic to?


	2. Decisions, Decisions

Well, hello again, everyone. First of all, Thank you for reading the last chapter, and hopefully this story will get better as it goes on =D. I'm sorry if you find any OOC in this, but, especially from Callen, it will come, then I'll try to get rid of it as the chapters keep on coming.

Special thanks to: sissouthernink1994, sniperbob, Elyy2k, galimeril, SilverPantherSM, who reviewed, as well as those who added me to their alert or favorite lists =D I appreciate it.

**sissouthernink1994**, I feel the same way that you do about stupid people, and bullies, too, haha  
Also, _**Elyy2K**_, Sam would be as old as he is on the series, I don't think they have said his age yet, so I won't risk it, just imagine him like he looks on the show =D.

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_**Chapter 2- Decisions, Decisions**_

There was only one thing that could be called a weakness when you talked about Special Agent Sam Hanna; and that was involvement. He was known in his field for getting emotionally involved and attached to his cases.

This was no exception. He stood outside the window of G. Callen's room, watching as nurses hovered over the young body so they could clean his many wounds now that he was finally out of danger. His health was poor, to say the least, and his body was too weak from the massive lost of blood and dehydration he had suffered.

The boy shied away the best he could when the nurses tried to touch him, often going as far as crying to be left alone, but the doctors wouldn't have any of it. In their eyes, the only thing that mattered at the moment was to cover the minor injuries, instead of leaving the kid alone so that his mind could recover.

Sam looked over to the doctor, who stood behind the rest of the adult in the room, with a warning look, but the middle-aged man didn't seem to even feel it as he told something to the nurses and walked out of the room, walking up to the big man.

"Sir, the boy is still in a delicate state; he lost too much blood and we're doing our best to find donators, but he has an uncommon type of blood, so it might be better just to let him recuperate it little by little on his own." The doctor stated.

Sam frowned, clearly not liking what he was hearing. Why would they make a kid 'recover on his own' if they could do something about it? Still, he nodded; there was not much he could actually do about it.

"Four of his ribs are broken, his left knee is sprained, and he hasn't said a word in this whole time, no matter the question we ask, so we will assign him with a psychologist to talk to." He continued before making a sudden pause. His mouth opened and closed without a sound. He sighed. "There is also evidence of rape." He said, the volume of his voice lower than what it had been. He was almost sure that Sam wouldn't think twice about knocking him out with his bare hands at the news. "We will reveal the results to a test for STD's as soon as possible."

But the man simply nodded, eyeing the boy as he tried to fling his arms to move the nurses away, only managing to lift them about two inches from the bed before they fell to his sides once again, while tears ran down his pale cheeks.

"What are the nurses doing?" Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"They are bandaging the small injuries on…" he looked at his papers, trying to remember the patient's name.

"Take them out." The agent interrupted.

The doctor's eyes widened in shock, it seemed like he was just told that an orphanage had been burnt down. Sam clapped his hands in front of the shorter man's face, bringing him back to the conversation.

"S-sir I don't think-"

"I don't care what you think." Sam said, voice dangerously low. "I want them out, they're scaring him."

The doctor nodded somewhat fearfully, rushing into the room to instruct the nurses to leave. The young women and men looked at him with confusion, but obeyed the orders and evacuated the room, taking a glance at Sam as they passed beside him.

Once alone, G relaxed visibly, his arms falling limply to his sides as he breathed deeply, trying to get his heart rate back to normal. He was scared of the people there, who didn't think twice about moving him around as if he was some sort of ragged doll, and he had no idea of what was going on, because nobody said anything to him; they just yelled back and forth at each other without paying any attention to him.

The door opened, and G looked to his side, his icy blue eyes locking with the dark brown ones of the man who saved him from the hell he had been in. G never thought he could be more grateful to someone in his life, and while it freaked him out that the man was there, walking towards him with caution, the teenager knew that he was the only person he could bring himself to trust.

Sam walked until he was standing right beside the bed, noticing that now that the blood was gone he could see the short, dirty blond hair that adorned the thirteen-year-old's head. He smiled at the young boy, a smile that had no real sympathy in it, for he knew that that was probably the last thing the boy wanted at the moment, but he did his best for it to be friendly. For a minute, he watched the hurt and fright that lingered in Callen's eyes before he sat down in the chair located near the bed, the teenager's eyes following all of his movements.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed the boy up close.

Sam wasn't really expecting an answer; after all, the doctor had just told him that G was not talking. He was pleasantly surprised when the kid bit his trembling lip before he opened his mouth.

"I'm scared." He confessed, his voice strained and low.

Nodding, the agent reached out to touch the boy's arm, as if he was trying to reassure him. G tensed under the touch for a second before finally relaxing.

"That is normal," Sam assured when he felt the younger male calm down. "You were in there for a long time, you're just being cautious."

They fell into silence, each too busy with their own thoughts to even try and make a conversation, not that they would know what to say anyways.

"What's your name?"

Callen's question took Sam by surprise, he hadn't imagined that the boy would ask him anything, at least not for a while. The man didn't answer, but instead sighed. Figuring it couldn't be too bad to tell the boy his name, as long as he promised to keep it a secret.

"I'll tell you, but try not to tell your friends." He instructed, a small smile appearing on his face when he saw the confusion spread on Callen's features. "Promise?" he asked, to what G nodded his head slightly. "My name's Sam Hanna."

G smiled at him, the gesture disappearing in less than a second, as the teen's eyes fixed on the door. Noticing the sudden change in attitude, the black man turned, his eyes widening when he saw Hetty standing near the door, right beside a woman he didn't recognize.

The taller woman, a red-head with green eyes kept moving inside of the room at the same time Sam got up from the uncomfortable hospital chair, glancing down at G before making his way to the door, the woman sitting down besides the once-again stoic teenager.

Sam closed the door behind him, looking down at his boss while she looked through the window for a few seconds before turning to him, eyes shining with disapproval while her arms were crossed over her chest.

"And just what do you think you're doing, Mr. Hanna?" She asked, her eyes half-lidded behind her thick glasses.

"Comforting the victim," He replied, observing how the woman asked something to Callen, and noticing how the boy's lips remained sealed. "He was jus-"

"I understand what you're trying to do, Mr. Hanna, but I'm afraid that this boy will have to get better on his own." She said with a sigh. "The moment he is able to leave this place he will go back into foster care."

Sam shook his head in frustration, once again looking over to the wounded boy resting on the bed. The boy's eyes, if Sam's own weren't playing tricks on him, were filled with unshed tears, but his mouth was still pressed closed, even though his chin was quivering slightly. He frowned, wondering just what the red-head was telling him.

"Hetty…" The big agent began, gesturing for the child in the bed with a hand. "We can't… we…I…" He sighed, defeated, giving three steps back before collapsing on one of the chairs resting against the wall, resting his head against the rugged surface behind him.

The woman stared at the man with a great a surprise in her face. She looked over to Callen, whose lips remained closed despite the obvious effect whatever words the psychologist said were having. Could that boy be so important to her Agent? It didn't seem likely; sure he cared for all the victims of the crimes he was assigned to, but not anywhere near to this extent.

"Mr. Hanna?" She called, uncertain. "Why do you care so much for this boy?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders, not knowing the answer. It was a simple question in itself, but the answer was much more complicated. The man truly had no idea; he just knew that he had looked into Callen's eyes and immediately felt overprotective of the younger male.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully, earning an eyebrow raise from his boss.

"But you do." Hetty stated, to which Sam nodded.

Silence filled the hallway, Sam and Hetty staring at each other, as if they were talking to each other without words, trying to convince each other that their thoughts were the ones that deserved to be heard. The woman was the one who broke the silence, accepting the silent begging Sam had done.

"Why don't you adopt him, then?" Sam smirked at the question, knowing that he had won the battle. He looked at the teenager, who now held an annoyed scowl directed at the woman besides him, who seemed to be holding something in her hands to show it to the boy.

"Can you arrange that?" As he asked that, he looked over to G, face now covered by the thin blanket offered by the hospital as the bundle shook vigorously.

He saw as the psychologist shook her head and kept an eye on her when her shoulders slumped. Sam couldn't hear if she was saying something, but the next moment she rose from the seat with a defeated demeanor, walking towards the exit.

"Certainly." He heard Hetty's voice bringing him back to reality. "Under your true name, I suppose?" at the man's nod, the door opened, the red-head now standing near them.

"He won't say anything, not a word." She complained. "Never in my life… People always talk right away." She ranted before she continued on her way, while the two other adults watched her until she disappeared.

"You probably want to tell the boy where he is headed after this." Hetty stated simply before she, too began walking down the aisle. "Don't worry, stay with him until he can leave." Were the last words Sam could hear before the short woman turned, and lost herself in the maze of hallways.

Sam then hurried back into room 754, where the blanket was still trembling. He reached out, gently taking the object from over Callen's head, the teen yelping as he did so before he opened his teary eyes, sighing in relief when he saw the Agent. The boy cleaned his tears and sniffled.

Smiling slightly at the reaction he had obtained from G, Sam sat back down on the uncomfortable chair, his experienced eyes locking with Callen's learning ones.

"G," The man started, "When you are able to leave-"

"I go back into foster care." G interrupted with a wavering voice, his eyes shifting away from him and onto the roof.

"No." Sam stated firmly, which caused Callen to look at him once again, eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "When this is all over, G, you're going to leave with me." He elaborated. "The process is already on its way. If you don't want me to adopt you, say so right now, and this will stop."

Callen continued to stare at him, unable to believe what Sam had just told him.

"Really?" He asked, fixing his eyes in Sam without looking away. "You want to adopt me?" No one had wanted him for more than a week since he entered foster care, and though he wasn't sure why, he was used to people lying to him.

But Sam nodded, and smiled at him, looking at him expectantly. Callen nodded his head slightly. Happy that someone finally had accepted him as their son. True, he had barely met the man the day before, but he had rescued him, and in G's mind, that was more than he could ever ask for.

"Thank you."

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Well, there we go. I hope that it was good, I was having a bit of trouble writing this chapter, so... yeah.

Hey, suggestions are greately appreciated, If you want anything to happen, tell me about it, and if that is actually possible for me to write, I will do it.

**_Questions:_** Which is your favorite food? Which is the food you hate?

please leave me your thoughts! =D


	3. The Promise

Okay, so I normally don't do this, but I will upload this chapter before the nex chapteres is finished, because tow people seem to need the chapter now XD

Special thanks to my reviewers: **Elyy2k, galimeril, Thesaurusgirl, angelprincesslilac, and paineverlasting**, because they keep me motivated =D

_paineverlasting!_ Thanks for the submission of ideas. I had already though about one of them, but the other three will be nice to consider.

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_**Chapter 3- The Promise**_

It was one week later when Sam found himself in the entrance to the games room in the children's ward. Way too much had happened; from allowing the boy to get out of the bed, once he was able to sit up without help, to the psychologist stopping her visits to the boy because she couldn't bear the silence he had fallen into. It was strange, to say the least, to watch a person who was supposed to help people with emotional problems leave the distraught teenager alone in the room while she stormed off with not much of a glance back at him. It frustrated Sam to no end that a person who studied to deal with these cases would act that way; he had wanted to ask G what exactly had happened with the woman for her to react that way, but when he saw the upset expression the child held, he had decided against it.

The wounds in the teen's skin were closing, leaving bright scars in their wake. Emotional scars, however, seemed to be much harder to heal; the child still backed away at the sole sight of any adult in the room, and then… Then there were the nightmares.

_Sam sat in the same, uncomfortable chair in which he had been the last three days, positively freezing at the coldness of the room. He was surprised that G hadn't woken up trembling yet, bothered by the cold, but then again, he had used his own jacket to cover the frail body the moment he had felt the slightest bit cold, so it was probable that Callen hadn't even felt it by that time before he was warm once again._

_A gasp escaped the sleeping boy's lips, followed by a whimper. The Special agent looked up from his lap in a second, only to see the child's face contorted in pain. The boy's eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids, and pale fingers grasped the older male's jacket tightly._

_The man rose up from his chair, leaning down near the boy. G let out another whimper as he tensed painfully. Sam frowned deeply, reaching to grab the small boy's arm._

"_G. It's okay, buddy. I'm here, you're safe." He whispered against the child's ear. "It's all right now, you're dreaming boy, you're fine."_

_G fought against his grasp for a few seconds before he finally relaxed, unconsciously breathing deeply to get his heart rate back to normal._

Sam was sure that the boy had been downright terrified of whatever he had been dreaming, seeing that the next morning he had lashed out with wrathful, teary screams at whoever tried to get near him; that had resulted in the doctors finally deciding that he would stay in his room instead of the children's ward like they had already planned, why G had not been placed there to begin with was a mystery to him, but as he saw the teenager wheel himself through the people, making himself as small as he could, Sam knew that the boy was still too scared of other people to socialize, especially if the subjects to deal with were a bunch of screaming children who more often than not crashed against his wheelchair.

But G stopped moving suddenly, right before he went up to a game that was completely deserted. Sam frowned, walking in to look at the game. The title didn't mean anything to him, as he was pretty much outdated in the gaming department, so he looked at the screen, eyes widening slightly when he saw instructions for a strategy game being showed.

Sam was about to ask Callen about his preference in videogames when he felt a tap in the middle of his back, followed by what was clearly his boss's voice. The man turned around, only to find Hetty standing there, a folder in her hands. With the corner of his eye he noticed that G had looked over as well for a second before realizing that the topic was probably none of his business and looked back at the screen.

The woman gave him the folder with no expression on her face whatsoever. Curious, the agent opened it. The first page was the STDs test result; Sam read over it carefully, sighing in relief when he realized that all the results were negative. What he saw next surprised him; the papers for adoption, which normally took about three months, or more, to obtain, were in front of him. He looked at the woman, who smiled knowingly.

"The only thing missing is your signature." She said, and Callen turned around once again, now interested in what the adults were talking about. G saw as the short woman took a black pen out of her pocket and gave it to Sam.

The man grabbed it, and took off the lid before turning to look at the teenager, who was staring at the folder like he was going to burn holes in it with his eyes. Sam knelt down besides the wheelchair, showing the boy the contents of the folder.

"It's your last chance to refuse." He said. G immediately shook his head; he wanted to go with the man, he felt safe when he was near him, Sam actually made him feel wanted, unlike all the other people that had taken him in.

Sam smiled, and using his arm as a surface to lean on, he signed the paper. Callen smiled; the first positive gesture Hetty had seen on the boy, the others having been frightened and crying, terrified expressions.

The Special Agent closed the folder, placing the pen on it to hold the papers in place. He extended it over to his boss as he stood back up. Hetty took it, nodding at the man.

"I will take care of this until you return to the office." The woman assured him before making her way out of the room full of screaming children.

G observed until she had disappeared through the hallway before biting his lip, looking up at Sam expectantly. It didn't seem like a good idea just to go back to the game as if nothing had happened. So Callen just looked up, trying to find some way to break the silence that they had fallen into.

"G, you were in a foster home before all this happened, right?" Sam asked, suddenly remembering Callen's clothing, or lack-there-of, the day he had found him. At Callen's nod, Sam continued "Is there anything you left there that you want to get back?"

The teen's eyes widened in realization. He blushed, his pale skin acquiring a tone of red as he nodded while looking down to his lap. Sam tilted his head to the side slightly, confused as to why the boy was suddenly acting that way.

"G?"

The boy looked at him, face still flushed. "It's a stuffed tiger." He whispered. "That's the only thing I have from before I was sent into foster care, I don't need it, but, you know, I'd like to keep it." He declared. Callen honestly believed that the man was going to laugh at him for asking for such a thing.

Sam nodded understandingly. "What about clothes?"

G snorted slightly, shaking his head at the man. "I had one extra shirt besides the one I was wearing that day."

Sam didn't think that situation was snort-worthy, but he didn't say anything about it; if that reaction was the beginning of the boy going back to normal, then he didn't mind. But he did frown, clearly not happy with the families that had been taking care of him.

"I'll get that tiger for you." The man assured. G raised an eyebrow at him, taken aback. "Do you even want to stay here?" He continued.

The teenager shook his head; the room was too noisy, and the only thing he wanted to do at the moment was rest; the painkillers were beginning to lose their effect, and his ribs and knee were starting to hurt too much for him to just ignore it.

The agent chuckled. As if reading the boy's mind, he walked up behind the wheelchair and began to push the boy towards his room, giving Callen time to lay back and close his eyes.

By the time they were in the room, and Sam had made sure everything was exactly in the same place before they left, to make sure it was safe, the boy had already dozed off in the chair. Noticing it, the Special Agent bent down, wrapping his strong arms carefully around G to lift him up.

He laid the boy back on the bed before standing upright once again. He took out his cell phone, and began to struggle to remember his boss's number, which had changed many times in the last few months, apparently an idea from Director Vance.

What he wanted to ask? He wasn't even sure. He had just seen his boss a few minutes ago, but he felt the absolute _need_ of talking to someone who wasn't wearing a white coat.

A sudden chuckle distracted him from his task; he swiftly turned around, only to find Kensi and Deeks already standing inside the room, a playful smile tugging at the younger man's lips as the woman simply rolled her eyes.

"What, you're a babysitter now?" He asked, causing Sam to roll his eyes as well.

"Actually, no," Sam replied, looking back at his phone to continue with his inner fight as to which number to call. "That boy there, G Callen, is now my adoptive son."

When he turned to look at them, he was received by two different shocked faces, a mixture of disbelief and… well, disbelief pretty much covers it.

"_What?"_

"You heard me." Sam retorted with a smirk. "And stop screaming, man, this is a hospital." The man then took a glance at G, who, apart from a small groan, didn't show any sign of hearing them talking.

Deeks raised his hands in surrender, muttering a small apology under his breath. The blond looked over to Callen as well, observing the many wounds the body still held with curious eyes. He knew that the boy had been rescued in their last mission, but the details of his condition were something that he actually hadn't bothered in asking, much too busy with personal stuff to bring himself to have empathy for one of the many victims of the kidnapper, not because he was insensitive, but because the more he knew, the more stressed he got; the more pissed he got at himself for not forcing himself to get more information sooner.

"I should have known you would pull something like this when you climbed into that ambulance." Kensi said with a smile.

Sam's smirk widened. That woman knew him too well, and he didn't know whether to be scared or not of the fact, so he simply put up with it.

"Hey, if you're here already, can you stay for a while?" He requested. "This kid is supposed to leave in two days and he has no clothes." He elaborated, already making his way to the door; while he wasn't sure that Deeks would agree to his request, he knew Kensi would stay there.

"Sure," Came Kensi's reply right before he closed the door behind him.

The two adults in the room looked at each other, fighting not to laugh out loud.

"Can you imagine him _shopping_?" Deeks asked; laughter about to take over him at the thought. Kensi let out a quiet giggle at the question before shaking her head as if to try and forget what the man had just asked her.

"Leave him alone." She said with a smile, to what Deeks rose his eyebrows and chuckled, slightly taken aback by the phrase.

"Fine." He replied, loudly moving the chair close to G's hospital bed to seat on it, a bit more retired from the boy.

Kensi closed her eyes in frustration, no longer bothering to warn the man about his loudness; if he woke the child up, it would be pretty much his problem how Sam reacted towards him, the less she interfered, the better.

It was an hour and a half later when groan interrupted the adults' conversation about the cafeteria food, which to their own mouths felt incredibly dry and flavorless. They both turned to Callen to see what was wrong. The boy was looking at them with confusion while he ran his hands through his slightly bruised face, trying to get the sleepiness out of himself. His lips were pressed tightly together in a thin line, demeanor deadly serious. Deeks gave a small step towards him with a friendly smile on his face.

G's breathing became a shallow and elaborated mess in an instant. He backed away from the blond as much as he could. Noticing that he couldn't move in the bed anymore, the teenager got off the bed as the man kept on moving forward, despite Kensi's warnings not to.

Callen moved his arms to hug his ribcage, ungracefully falling to the floor when his left knee was painfully unable to hold his weight, but he never stopped looking at the man, his heartbeat rising without control, causing him intense chest pains; it was a terrible sensation, like someone was right on top of him, the weigh pressing his chest, allowing him no deep breaths.

Kensi didn't doubt in grabbing her partner's arm to stop him and pull him away from the frightened teen.

"Don't do that!" she reprimanded in a hushed tone. "Can't you see he's scared?" Deeks stopped in his tracks, looked at the woman with an exasperated expression on his face.

Kensi rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at Callen, who was still staring at Deeks with widened eyes, terrified.

**+-+-+-+-+-+G's POV-+-+-+-+-+-**

No. Not again. I have to back away. I want this man to leave, to be taken out from here. Where is Sam? I can't see Sam! Where is he? He was lying to me? Did he get bored with me?

I press my back a far as I can to whatever is behind me, I don't know what it is, and I don't want to know. I just want him to go away, to stop smiling like he is and leave to never come back. I can feel the hot liquid in my cheeks, but I don't clean it away.

There is also a woman there. She looks scary, serious, but not as much as he man does. I don't know why, she seems familiar.

She gives a small step towards me, smiling. There is something about that smile that makes me forget about the guy who is also here.

"Hi," She greets in a friendly, but quiet tone. I appreciate that, I hate people yelling at me, pretending that they care for me. "We're Sam's friends, he had to go out for a bit, so he told us to watch you."

Sam _had_ to leave? Where is he? Is he okay? I want Sam.

I don't move while the woman approaches me. She is slow, like she is testing me. I back away, until the hot white pain in my ribs shoots through my body. I stop moving, to try and catch my breath. The woman kneels in the floor; she is not near me, but she isn't too far away.

"My name is Kensi, sweetheart. I was there when Sam rescued you."

'_She's the girl'._ I can't think anything else. But I do recognize the voice now, I saw her, I did. So she's not going to hurt me… is she? She was with Sam. Sam is nice, so he probably is with nice people only.

I relax just slightly; I still don't trust her. I turn around, and my eyes catch the sight of the blond man again. The terror returns. _He is going to hurt me._

The guy looks at me in the eyes, and I can't help but clench my jaw as an involuntary whimper escapes my lips.

The man gives a tentative step forward. _Why is he so insistent?_ I want him to leave! Can't Sam's friend see that? He is going to kill me!

I clench my fists as well; I am rigid, my body stops feeling, it's cold, and I'm scared, where is Sam? I want Sam. I need Sam. I am frustrated, and no one in this place listens to me or cares about me like Sam does.

The man stops moving suddenly, I don't know why he did it, but I don't care. I just want to get away from him, I want to scream at him and run for help, but I _can't, _my body just won't move!

"What's going on here?" I glance up, and there he is. Dark-skinned, bulky, and with a deep voice. Sam is here. He did return.

**+-+-+-+-+-Normal POV+-+-+-+-+-**

The trio turned to face Sam, who was now standing close to the door with a confused frown drawn in his features. He was holding a dark blue shopping bag in his right hand, while his left remained in the pants' pocket.

Out of the corner on her eye, Kensi saw how all of G's defenses seemed to melt just at the sight of her partner; his fists unclenched, his posture relaxed, and his breathing was going back to normal.

"Not much." The woman answered, eyeing the boy before looking back at Sam.

"G? Are you okay, buddy?" the dark-skinned man asked, approaching him when he saw the reactions he seemed to be having at his fellow agents. He kneeled beside him, closer to him than what Kensi was. Callen simply looked at him before turning away. "G. It's fine to be scared."

The boy nodded curtly before looking back at him. Sam was already used to that sort of stuff coming from G; while they were alone, the kid would talk and answer to any question asked to him, but if there was another person in the room that could actually hear him, then Callen would never even open his mouth.

Sam reached inside the bag he was still holding, taking out a worn out stuffed tiger and extending his hand forward for the boy to grab it. G's eyes widened in surprise; slowly, he reached out until his hand was resting on the stuffed animal's head. He hesitantly closed his fist around it and brought it up to his chest before looking up at Sam.

"People don't put a lot of resistance if you're almost a head taller than them, do they?" Sam asked.

Kensi and Deeks were only able to look at him strangely before the man lifted up G with practiced ease and placed him at the bed. He wrapped an arm around him, wanting the boy to know that he was safe.

The still shocked boy continued to stare at the stuffed tiger before looking up at Sam, who was now talking quietly to the other two adults with a somewhat hesitant expression.

G looked back at the tiger, taking in all the damage that it had suffered over the last eight years; the stitches in the base of the ear from his first foster home, where an older girl had ripped it; the small red stain in its front left paw from his fourth foster home, where the sixteen-year-old twins had used it as a paint brush; then there was the lack of whiskers, from his eight foster home, where the baby girl of the house had ripped them off. And many other defects that were result of his foster families.

The boy hugged the plush to his chest with one arm, noticing how Kensi and Deeks were now leaving the room. Sam gave a squeeze to G's shoulder before letting go and sitting next to him once again, taking out a pair of black jeans and a dark red t-shirt out of the blue bag that he had brought back with him.

"I don't know your likes, but I figured this couldn't go wrong."

G nodded, right hand rubbing his left eye. "That's fine, thank you." He said quietly. "Sam… did… Did the family seem to miss me?" He didn't need to be told, he felt like knew the answer to his own question, but the urge to ask just wouldn't go away. Just maybe…

Sam looked at the boy apprehensively. He left the clothes on the bed, sighing before looking at the teen in the eyes. The icy blue orbs were far from innocent; too full of pain for that, and yet, there was something, a strange glint on them that made him seem too frail and in need of affection for his own good.

"I'm sorry buddy."

The look of betrayal and hurt on G's face was almost indescribable in Sam's eyes. The man saw as the boy looked down to his blanket-covered lap, the tiger plush held tightly to his chest.

"I t-t-thought they did." G admitted, voice quivering. "I had only been there for three days." He continued, and Sam was able to see the tear drops beginning to stain the thin hospital sheets. He waited for the child to go on, but he didn't, and instead crumbled in silent tears.

The man looked at him sadly; while he understood what it was like to live in a low neighborhood, he wasn't sure what it was just to be passed on and on with no one who truly loved you. Sam stood up from his seat before bending over, wrapping two big, strong arms around the shaking frame.

"It's okay, G, you're alright, and I will not abandon you." The man vowed. On his chest, he felt the teenager's head nod against him.

Callen held on tightly to the man's shirt, even though no real cries could be heard, it was obvious that he was hurt, and he needed someone to hold him even if it was just for a little while; and Sam was happy to comply.

"Sam, why are you doing this for me?" Callen asked once his face was separated from the older male's chest; his voice was once again strained and low.

The man thought about it for a few seconds. He couldn't exactly place it in words, just like he had told Hetty before. But for this child, he would he to do it. "Because you deserve it." He replied. "Look, G… I don't know what your other families told you, but you are one very special kid."

G nodded, though somewhat confused at the explanation. Still, he wasn't about to back out after the papers had been signed and knowing it was probably the only place where he would be accepted as the person he was.

"Well, still, it's great to count on you." That comment made Sam smile from ear to ear. And he nodded, in his mind, this boy was already number one on his priorities, and he wasn't about to let anyone else lay a hand on him.

* * *

So! I don't know about how this chapter turned out, but I liked G' POV; I kinda wanted to show, even in the slightlest, how he felt, told in his own eyes.

_**Question: If you were to leave on an unwanted vacation, what would you take with you?**_

Please leave me your thoughts! =)


	4. Stains

I have finished chapter four! I hope that it is of your liking.

_**Special Thanks to:**_ Paineverlasting, hope06, angelprincesslilac, and Elyy2k.

With no more for now, I leave you the chapter.

* * *

_**Chapter 4-Stains**_

"What's your apartment like?" Asked G. The boy had already been asking questions during the whole morning while his release papers were signed and accepted for him to leave the hospital; Sam didn't mind any of them because it meant that G was ready to share some information about him as well, so he didn't lose the chance.

"It's not too big." The man replied in all honesty. "Two bedrooms, kitchen and living room, mainly." He paused, thinking. "There is only one bathroom, I hope you don't mind."

Sam could swear he saw the slightest glint of hesitation on the boy's face before he shook his head. Callen finally sat up slowly in the bed, grabbing the clothes that were resting there for him. G then stood up, wobbling just the slightest bit before he caught himself and kept moving to the bathroom located in the room, leaving Sam to himself.

Once inside, G let out a shuddering breath; he had to be strong, he _had_ to, for his own sake, but it was hard. He knew that Sam wouldn't hurt him; much on the contrary, the man would protect him, he had proved it when he rescued him, and reaffirmed it when he adopted him.

Callen shook his head, tired, and anxious. He quickly got rid of the horrible hospital pants and gown, reaching out to grab the underwear that had been provided by the hospital and slipping it on before doing the same to the dark jeans that Sam had brought; they were a bit on the big side, but G hoped he would grow into them. He then sat down on the floor- he was more than aware that the bathroom was squeaky clean-to put on his socks and shoes. And finally, he put on the dark red shirt, mindful of his still sensitive ribcage.

Now dressed, the teen gave another shaky breath before opening the door back to the room, where Sam and Kensi stood, whispering to each other, their expressions completely serious. G slowly made his way to the bed, wincing slightly when his newly-healed knee supported his weight.

G walked up to the man, standing behind him while eyeing the woman, as if he was trying to decide whether she was a threat or not; Sure, she had come the day before and she and Sam talked for hours, she even tried to invite G to the conversation, but he just stared at her in silence, observing the interaction between the two adults, she seemed like a nice person, though.

"You can't be serious." Sam said, the deep voice brining G back to reality. "He…" The man turned to look at him. "School."

G's eyes widened at the word. He looked at Kensi as if she had just killed a kitten in front of his very own eyes. Apparently unable to do much more, the woman looked back at him with sympathy. She looked back at Sam, shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry, the woman in charge of G's case _forced_ us to sign him up somewhere." She insisted. "Hetty wasn't happy about it either."

Sam sighed, knowing that nothing could be done; it might be almost the end of the school year, and the boy under his care could be traumatized, but the only thing that the woman cared about was to 'enforce' the law.

He saw as G pressed his lips in a thin line, and he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"So… where did you sign him up?"

"Well, we tried to reach you, but you didn't answer your phone, Hetty thought that…" The woman trailed off, taking out a piece of paper from the right pocket in her jeans. She took a look at it like it was in Chinese. "Alt…Arlu…Arlutec High School." She stumbled, her eyes squinting as she tried to read the seemingly bad handwriting. Kensi nodded, showing that her pronunciation had been correct. "Was the best for the time."

Sam began to walk towards the door, followed very closely by a limping Callen. Kensi followed them as well. The man turned towards the boy, but seemingly realizing that he wouldn't answer with the woman so near, he turned to her as if something had suddenly hit him.

"But he just turned thirteen, why is he going to high school?"

"He is two grades ahead." The woman replied "He skipped seventh and eighth."

G simply lowered his head, seemingly embarrassed by those facts. Sam didn't know why Callen felt like that about the subject but he knew better than pressing it.

The group arrived at the elevator and stepped in. Both adults allowed G to stay between the two of them when the teenager cowered from the tall and slightly chubby brown haired man that was inside the elevator.

The boy closed his eyes tightly, before opening them suddenly, holding onto Sam's tight, long-sleeved shirt. The man wrapped an arm around G shoulders, rubbing his back soothingly while Kensi stood in front of him, blocking the view of the man with her thin but athletic frame.

Sam looked at the man while Kensi tried to soothe the distraught child. The man, who had been staring at the trio, exited the elevator the second that the double doors opened two floors below the seventh floor.

G let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, sliding onto the floor when his knees went weak. Kensi and Sam immediately caught him by the arms, bringing the boy back to his feet.

"You okay, buddy?" Sam asked, holding the small boy tightly to prevent him from falling back down.

Kensi rubbed his back gently, doing her best to calm the teen down. She was pleasantly surprised when he didn't try to pull away from her, and instead seemed to look at her in the eyes before giving her a small smile; it was gone so fast that Kensi began to think she had imagined it.

The elevator stopped in the lobby, and the double doors slipped open for them to exit. The trio walked out and headed to Sam's car, which had been brought by him when he had gone out to get G's clothes.

"So, when does he have to be at school?" Sam asked after helping Callen onto the back seat of the black 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T and climbing in to his own seat. Kensi looked at the child, who stared back at her in silence.

"I have good news on that. The woman forced us to sign him up in a school, but l talked to the principal and explained the situation to her, and she agreed to wait for the next semester without any repercussions for G."

Sam looked at the woman gratefully, turning back to the front and focusing on the street with a smile. The man couldn't shake off the feeling that his team was formed by the best people in the world, and together they made a big, close family.

"Hetty promised to have some clothes ready for him, too." She assured, taking the older male out of his thoughts.

Sam nodded with a slight sigh of relief. At least that was one thing less to worry about; if it was a problem about clothes, his boss would know what to do with it.

The sudden thought of Callen having to go to work with him unsettled him a bit. The man looked at G through the rear mirror, observing for any sign of uneasiness about the situation he had been thrown into.

G had his eyes stuck on Kensi's back; they held a slight frustration in them, and at the same time they seemed desperate. Sam went back to looking at the street, not wanting anything to happen during the ride.

"I'll try." G whispered suddenly.

Kensi snapped her head back to see the boy, while Sam looked through the rear mirror, before smiling at the child and gluing his eyes at the front once more. The woman locked her eyes with G, who held her gaze for a second before quickly looking out of the window.

The woman gave Sam a questioning look, but the man simply grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders; He had no idea of why the sudden change in G's attitude towards the female Special Agent, nor he had any idea of the reason G had actually said such a thing, but he was definitely happy with it, Sam trusted Kensi with his life, and he was glad about the boy finally opening up to her.

"That's all we could ask for, G." Sam assured "You are a very brave boy." Through the rear mirror, the Special Agent could see Callen's face darken with a blush before he pressed his head against the stuffed tiger, hiding himself from view.

Kensi smiled at them, chuckling silently at the boy's antics.

"So, Kensi, did Hetty say if I had to go over today?" Sam asked. The woman shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think she did."

Sam took a turn to the left at those words, taking the route to his house rather than continue straight though the street to get to the NCIS undercover building. The man was actually glad that Hetty hadn't asked for his presence; for more that he liked doing his job, he wasn't so sure about taking his adoptive son to the agency so soon; he doubted that he would like being surrounded by so many people, especially if one of them would be watching him intently, trying to figure him out.

The group continued the ride in silence, not wanting to disturb each other. G put down the stuffed tiger after a few minutes, figuring that since there was no more blush, the plush wasn't doing anything for him. It was four corners later when Kensi opened her door and stepped out of the vehicle without a warning.

"Kensi?" Called Sam, taken aback by the action.

"Dom's apartment is this way." She replied simply, signaling to the white building at the other side of the street. "I was going to clean up his bedroom today."

While G looked outright confused, Sam's face became saddened. He nodded, and both males watched as Kensi walked away until she had disappeared into the parking lot before the car began moving once again.

G was curious, to say the least, about whom -or what- the two adults had been talking about. He leaned forward, being careful of his injured ribs, ready to ask, when the glimpse of Sam's defeated face met his eyes. He closed his mouth immediately. If the subject was painful for the man then he wouldn't say anything.

'_I'll ask him later.'_ Was the thought on the child's mind.

The car stopped and the engine died down. The man turned around to look at Callen, and the boy could easily notice the man was absentminded.

"Hey, bud, uh, the apartment is in the third floor. Think you can make it there?" The man asked, looking at him in the eyes.

Noticing that the Dom topic seemed to have caused much distress in the older male, the blond quickly put it in the back of his mind, figuring that it probably was too much of a touchy subject; he did his best to forget about it. Instead the boy looked at the building in front of him.

"M-maybe." He replied doubtfully. As far as he could see, the third floor was about four or five staircases away. "But… I mean, I'm not sure." The second part of the sentence had gone down even lower than a whisper.

Sam looked over to the boy. "I'll help you if you need it." He offered. He got out of the car, and helped G to do the same, making sure he was standing steadily before letting go.

As they began to walk, Sam could notice how his adoptive son seemed to try hiding from view by staying as close to his side as it was humanly possible for him. The man looked around, but seeing no crowd on the street, Sam couldn't think of much of a reason for such action.

It wasn't until the second flight of stairs –Where the light dimmed as they actually entered the building and Sam felt G's hands gripping his shirt tightly—, that he understood. They had kidnapped him while he was alone, probably when he could see no one around him, it was completely normal that he was scared.

The man placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, wanting him to understand that he was there. That he would not leave him alone, and that he would protect him. G reacted by trying to get even closer to him, effectively stopping the man in mid-step.

"Come on, buddy, it's okay, I'm here, you're safe." Sam assured, doing his best to keep his footing while holding the body.

G took a deep, shaky breath. Still not convinced of the situation, the boy hesitantly let go of Sam's shirt, silently thanking to the skies when the arm around his shoulders did not abandoned its spot, and instead seemed bring him a little closer to its owner.

Both males kept on moving forward, carefully climbing the stairs while Sam kept making sure G was devoid of pain as they did. Because that was Sam's way of doing things; Agent Hanna could walk away from a murder scene, he could keep his cool while he was being shot, and he could go around the OSP pretending that everything was fine after that. But _Sam_, the man he was now, the one he was when no one was around, had to make sure that everything was under control, that he could take things into his hands and that he was not just another piece of the board being controlled by someone he could not see.

When the door of Sam's apartment was opened, G couldn't help but stare. The last thing he had expected was before him; a clean, nicely decorated room; it had hardwood floors that he truly wasn't expecting, and the walls were a strong red that was broken with picture frames and a clean white sofa pressed against the wall, located diagonally from an equally white armchair, right in front of a quite elegant glass table. All in all, one would probably think it had been designed by three, maybe four women; the only thing that said otherwise was the big, forty-inch plasma screen that seemed to be the focal point in the room.

"Let's go to your room, kid." Sam muttered as he began walking forward, giving G a very light push on the shoulder, indicating him to follow.

The teenager quickly set into motion, entering the hallway to his left as he held the plush tiger loosely in his hand, he looked around the place, memorizing when Sam gave him an indication; like were the bathroom, or the fact that Sam's bedroom was right across his.

His own room was very simple, a bed located in the far left corner, pressed against the stark white walls, with a dark brown blanket being the only thing adorning it. Across from it were sliding doors that marked the closet space.

Sam sighed slightly. "I wasn't prepared, sorry. We'll buy some things, a new desk… a—"

"That's fine, Sam." G interrupted softly, causing the man to look at him "I… I don't really need that." He assured. "You're busy, right? You don't need to lose your time looking for a desk."

The man frowned at that. He placed his strong hand on the thin shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "G, don't say that, I want to buy these things for you."

Callen looked away from the room slightly, biting his lip as if he was not sure about the whole situation. And how could he be? He had never had a room of his own, and the idea was suddenly overwhelming, however, the teen nodded without looking at Sam.

"Okay." He replied, his hold on the stuffed animal tightening. "Thanks."

The Special Agent in Charge remained serious, but squeezed the shoulder again. Sam had no idea of what to do now, in his head, he wondered if the boy needed to be shown to the kitchen, or if he had seen it on their way there, which was impossible, considering it was to the other side of the apartment.

"Bathroom is over there." He gestured to a wooden door about three feet away from them. Callen followed the motion, and nodded silently.

The two males fell into an uncomfortable silence. Sam wasn't even sure why, after all, they had spent a bit more than a week together, and it had not happened until now. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he figured that they had never been truly alone in a house, much less one that was very hard to exit in G's current state.

The teenager kept an arm wrapped around his ribs, trying to keep the pain away for a while. He knew Sam had been given medicines for the pain, but if he took anymore, he would probably have an overdose.

"I'm making something to eat." Sam informed suddenly. "You hungry?"

G nodded slightly, but he looked like he hadn't even heard the man. He turned to look at Sam, and the adult could swore that his eyes were hazed slightly.

"Can I take a bath while you do that?" The teen asked, sounding distracted.

Sam took a careful look at him, taking into account the way he seemed to be staring at his hands before looking somewhere else. He wasn't sure why that was, because it was the first time he'd done it, but he nodded, after all, it's not like he could actually control the boy.

"Sure." He said, the hand on the boy's shoulder moving to give him a one armed hug. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah." G lied. "I… I'll be out soon."

Slowly, the boy walked into the bathroom while Sam watched him until he closed the door behind him. The man sighed, a slight frown on his face, frustrated by the situation he now found himself in. With that, he walked to the kitchen, wanting to give the teenager his own space.

**-+-+-+-+-+G-+-+-+-+-+**

_Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out._

G kept repeating to himself as he looked down at his body. Most of the wounds had already healed, but some of the deeper cuts were still red and itching as they found their way into oblivion. His torso was still mostly bruised, purple spots still giving the pale skin color.

Holding his hands in front of him, he found his inner chanting interrupted; it didn't matter how much he tried to clean them, his mind wouldn't change its opinion. The dark red stains were accompanied by thick, sticky white ones, and he couldn't help the sob that escaped his throat.

He closed his hands, balling them in fists as he leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, holding his head as he tried to take his mind out of it.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

* * *

I think this is the longest chapter so far, and I'm kinda proud of it =D

Also, yes, here Sam is the Special Agent in Charge, replacing Callen, I don't know if I said that he was a senior agent in another chapter, so if I did, please tell me and I will correct it. Kensi was supposed to be the senoir agent, but I messed that up last chapter, I might change that as well.

This thing won't change some things that I originally wrote, and it won't let me center stuff, but, well.

Pain, to asnwer your question, Deeks came to me as a character that gets in trouble, stubborn maybe. I was trying to write him as i remembered him being, but I will check the chapters to write him better.

_**EDIT: I changed the name of the school to something that didn't exist instead of using a real one!**_

**Question: What do you drink in a hot day?**

Again, any ideas that you might have, are accepted.


	5. Reassurance

_**So! **_I want to thank all of you for the awesome reviews. I answered some, but I have honestly been too stressed with life right now, so I deeply apologize if I didn't answer yours, I'll do my best for this time.

Anyway, this chapter is not nearly as amazing as I thought it would be when I planned it, but I hope that next chapter is. =D

With no other thing to say for now, I leave you with the story.

**_

* * *

_**

_**Chapter 5-Reassurance**_

"G?" Called Sam, knocking the wooden door that separated him from his adopted son. "Are you okay in there?"

The agent was worried; it had been at least two hours since the boy had disappeared into the bathroom, and he had yet to come out. Sam pressed his ear against the door, intently trying to hear what was going on in the other side.

The smell of recently-made spaghetti flooded the apartment, making the man's mouth water in anticipation. He quickly shook his head. His stomach could wait, the boy was much more important. Sam waited for a few seconds but no reply came.

In the shower, G heard Sam's call and he did his best to calm himself down. But how could he? The invisible blood in his hands accompanied by the foreign sperm kept his brain occupied. The teen heard Sam calling him again, and he was finally able to look up; his eyes were bloodshot, and no matter how much he tried, the sobs continued to escape his mouth.

"G!" Sam repeated after hearing the sobs. An urge to see what was wrong with the boy made him forget about the Italian food, and he hoped that his yell had not actually scared the child. "It's okay buddy, it's okay, you're fine," he called, turning the knob of the door in an attempt to enter the bathroom. Locked.

The blond attempted to stand, his legs going weak as he cried, and the injured ribcage seemingly ready to explode at the forced movements. G wanted to open the door; he didn't want to be alone anymore. He didn't want to be alone _ever again_.

G turned off the water, doing his best not to look at his body. He was able to hear Sam's sigh of relief as he quickly wrapped the white towel from the rack around his shoulders, holding it in place as he opened the door as fast as he could, throwing himself against the man as he resisted the urge to cry out loud.

Surprised, the Special Agent hugged Callen back as he trembled against him. He could hear the boy muttering incoherently against his chest and he could do nothing more than to hold him.

"It's okay G, you're safe, no one is going to hurt you." He reassured. He waited for a few minutes, in which the boy began to stop trembling, his crying decreasing until it became long, calm breaths.

"Sorry." Callen muttered, the towel around his shoulders tightening at his touch. "I didn't… that wasn't…"

"It's fine, kid." Sam assured, squeezing his shoulders as G gave a few steps back. "Does it hurt?"

The child nodded truthfully, looking up at Sam as he tried not to wince at the reminder of the state his body was in. "I… can manage, though." He muttered, the grip on the towel becoming just a little tighter.

The adult doubted it was true, considering the elaborated breathing and the slightly pale skin, but he would allow it just that one time, knowing the boy needed it, besides, G had already had a dose of medication and the doctor had given him strict orders to wait at least eight hours before giving him the next one. "Get dressed, all right? Food is ready." He said gently.

G hesitated; getting dressed meant to close the door, and closing the door meant to be alone again. He bit his lip, eyes suddenly finding the floor interesting. "Can…" He began, a new tear making its way down the boy's face. Sam could actually feel his heart break slightly at the sight, and his hand was about to reach out and clean the tear away when he realized that it was possible that he would only make things worse."Can you just turn so that I don't have to close the door?"

To say Sam was taken aback was an understatement; the man stared into the clear blue eyes that looked back with an intense amount of need. He nodded, unable to decline such a stare. The man turned around, giving the boy his privacy.

G wiped the liquid from his cheek, looking at the back of the man thankfully before grabbing the underwear he had been wearing, it was not like he had another pair at the moment, and considering that he only wore them for about twenty minutes, the teen knew that they were clean. Or, at least, he wanted to think that they were.

It wasn't until the jeans were secured around his waist that G removed the towel from around his shoulders; unsure of what to do with it, he hung it back in the rack where he had first found it. He took the t-shirt from the counter and carefully put it on, drawing in a painful breath.

Once he was done with his shoes, he turned back to Sam, who was still standing in the doorway, facing away from him. G couldn't help thinking just how much the man looked like a bodyguard standing there, and he had to smile slightly at the thought.

"I… I'm done Sam."

The man turned around, slowly, G noticed, as if he was trying not to upset him even more. Sam smiled slightly at his sight and motioned for him to get closer, giving a small step down the hall.

"Hope you like spaghetti…" The agent said in a low voice, turning around slightly to see if the boy was following.

"I get to eat that?" G asked quietly, voice matching Sam's. He reached for his own face and cleaned the moisture that the last tear had left.

Sam frowned slightly at the question, knowing it was probably because of the foster homes he had been in; the hospital had provided nutritious food and bread, and the boy had actually refused to eat it various times, claiming that he was not hungry, so he knew it wasn't that.

He didn't answer, however, and instead just nodded his head, smiling at the younger male. G smiled at that; it was not very bright, but Sam was pleased with it; he knew the boy was trying to forget about whatever had scared him a few minutes ago.

They walked into the kitchen together, where a small island was located right in the middle.

"Just sit over here, G, I'll bring your plate in a second." Sam said, moving a chair so that the boy could sit.

The blond walked over, and with the help of the Agent, he was able to get in the black, modern bar stool. Sam walked away, stepping out of G's line of sight to gather the plates from the counter while the boy looked around with curiosity, almost as if he had never seen a kitchen in his life.

"_Maybe he hasn't."_ The man told himself, placing G's food in front of him, ruffling his hair and walking around the island to get to his own stool. _"Maybe no one allowed him in the kitchen before."_

The two males ate in silence, the teenager practically choking on the spaghetti in hunger. Sam frowned slightly, but let the boy do what he wanted; he probably couldn't help it anyways, so why trouble the child with it?

"G," Sam called when the dishes were on the sink, ready to be washed at the end of the day. The boy turned, attentive to whatever he had to say. "You want to watch a movie? Maybe read?"

The blonde's expression became confused, his eyes not leaving the spot behind Sam's head. That worried the Agent, because the boy had not had problems looking at him before. "Why?" He asked.

The adult walked over to the child, helping him off the stool carefully, noticing how G seemed pained at the movement. Sam began to guide the boy out of the kitchen while he breathed deeply, a grimace covering over his face.

"It's about two more hours before you can take the painkillers, you might as well distract yourself." Sam explained simply.

G nodded, smiling slightly as the man guided him over to the couch. He sat down slowly, the deep breaths aching more and more with each second. He figured that Sam was right, distracting himself from the pain seemed like the best thing to do at the moment.

"What kind of movies do you have?" He asked, raising his head so that his eyes met with the man's, holding the gaze for a few seconds before braking eye contact. _Too dark. _He fought to look over again, _"He won't hurt you. He saved you, you're safe with him." _He repeated to himself.

Sam smirked, ruffling the dirty blond hair. He walked over to a double-door shelf right above the television, and opened one of the doors, sliding it to the other side.

Different colored boxes stared at Callen, who watched with interest as the man ran his hand through the DVDs. Hesitant, the Head Agent grabbed four movies, and walked back to the sofa, extending the four movies to the boy, allowing him to pick the one that seemed more interesting to him. Sam wasn't sure G would actually like any of them; after all, he wasn't really into PG-13 movies, much less K-rated ones.

The boy eyed all four. He doubted for a second before taking each of the boxes from Sam's hands and turning them around, not really reading the summary, but trying to see which one looked the best.

His hands traced each box, Sam wincing internally at the scars that adorned the pale skin. One by one, the movies were returned to the man's hands, keeping just one of them.

'_Slumdog millionaire'_ stared back at Sam when the thirteen-year-old held up the DVD box with shaking hands, almost like he was afraid he was going to get hurt by the man.

Sam gave the child a small smile, grabbing the box and opening it, taking out the disc and walking back to the television, placing the DVD on the machine above the shelf, then took the remote and made his way back to G, handing the object to him before sitting down.

"Your power… for now; I like football, so TV is mine when there's an important game."

G stared at the man, before smiling at him, not expecting anything of the sort. "Thanks, Sam." He whispered.

"Hey, look, I don't know how it was in your foster homes, and I honestly don't even want to think about that bastard who took you…" Sam made a pause, watching as G tensed and gave a small tremble, which he stopped by ruffling his hair. "But here, and I'm sure that Kensi would like to being added up to this statement, you'll have everything you need, G, and that includes fun, peace, and love, all right?"

The boy looked at the man's shoulder for a few moments, remote control still in hand while the TV showed the preview of a movie about Mexican boys playing baseball. G honestly had no idea of what to say to that, because no one had ever done it before, and now he had a father –and apparently something like an Aunt, if Sam's statement was true- who would care for him like his true family.

Having no words to respond even after the minutes passed, and the screen showed the root menu for the movie, Callen finally looked up to Sam's dark eyes, valiantly holding the gaze, as if he searching for an answer coming from the adult's very soul.

Seemingly getting the answer he wanted, G smiled; a small, shy smile that, for the first time since Sam had first taken him out of his kidnapper's hideout, felt real.

"Thank you." Was the simple answer coming from G's mouth before he carefully leaned forward, much to the man's surprise, hugging Sam lightly before letting go and selecting 'Play' on the menu screen.

Sam was left speechless by the action but looked over to the screen once the child had let go. As he watched the movie progress, he tried hard not to think that it had been a mistake to let he boy choose the movie, especially since he wasn't completely sure what it was about.

At the scene of the sheer betrayal when one of the boys let go of the girl's arm to let her fall back on the dirt, Sam grabbed G's shoulder; he was not going to let go of the boy now that he was safe of people like that.

* * *

Yep, so, as you can see, not much happened in this chapter, but I hope that it was nice enough for your eyes, haha.

**Today's Question: What is your best hidding place**?  
Personally, I must admit mine is inside the closet, between a few boxes of stuff that have not been moved for years.

Have a nice day!


	6. Detached

Ah, I finally finished the chapter, *breathes sigh of tiredness.* I got slightly stuck, and though **angelprincesslilac **offered to help, I was already past that when she did so. Sorry if I didn't return the message, I've been so out of place lately.

**I simply must thank al the amazing people that reviewed!** angelprincesslilac, Elyy2k, moonspirit, hope06, and Painevelrasting, a million thanks and hugs! you seriously inspire me to keep writing this.

* * *

_**Chapter 6-Detached**_

Silence reigned all through the home, save for the small groans of pain that emerged from G. Callen's room. Light illuminated the place, contrary to the darkness that lingered in the hall and the rest of the apartment, the boy's room door stayed open, and did Sam's, in case the child needed anything.

G sat up in his bed, breathing deeply as tears ran down his face. His arms were placed around his torso, holding it in pain. He tried to get up, looking around with tired, helpless eyes as he tried to ease the burning sensation in his ribcage.

Almost immediately, a sensation of being watched surged through the fragile boy, who got his legs back onto the bed and got as close as he could to the corner of the room, his breath hitching as a choked sob escaped his lips.

"Don't hurt me." He said forcefully, covering his face with his hands as he tried to protect himself of the ghost that threatened him.

**+-+-+-+-Sam-+-+-+-+**

Sam awoke with a start, the faint sound of crying ringing through his ears. He looked around, confused as to where the barely there sound was coming from. He noticed that it was four thirty in the morning, and there should be nothing that could keep him out of his much needed sleep. It was another minute until he realized that the crying was not actually faint; _at all_, and that it was coming right across the hall.

"G!" He whispered under his breath, worry overcoming any other of his senses.

Scrambling out from under the bed covers, he trotted into the room the thirteen-year-old now owned, pausing at the door frame to catch exactly what was going on.

The image of the blond child curled up in a, screaming, shaking mess on his bed caught Sam by surprise. It shouldn't have, and he knew so, but the fact that G had been quiet all day had seemed to turn off several of the Agent's alarms.

Regaining his ability to move, the adult quickly made his way over to the bed, standing there quietly as he bent over just slightly, to cover the image of the empty room. _No, it is not empty; at least, not for G. _Sam reminded himself.

"G?" He called softly, even more than what he had intended. "G, it's all right now, no one is here, we're alone." He whispered, extending one hand to touch the boy's shoulder, which was covered by one of his own t-shirts.

The teenager tensed for a second before raising his head slightly. Frightened blue eyes met concerned brown ones, and G reached out to grip Sam's wife beater tightly in this hand, desperation for safety etched in his face.

"Sam." He whispered in a weak voice, sobs still racking his frame. "Sam, he was here, he was here, I swear."

He needed the man to understand. He was desperate for the man to understand.

And Sam wanted to.

The Agent nodded, not wanting to get the younger male more upset by him denying the sentence, even though he knew the man was dead, and if he wasn't, finding him would be hard, anyway.

"He's not here anymore." He assured instead. "You're safe, G."

Sam leaned forward, wrapping two strong, protective arms around the shaking teen. He sat down on the bed, getting a better hold on the boy while he buried his face in his chest. Doing his best to calm the boy down, Sam maneuvered the child to sit on his lap, figuring the pain on his ribs would lessen that way; whether it was actually a good idea, he didn't know.

"Sam, I'm scared." G mumbled once he had calmed down a bit, his hand still gripping Sam's shirt like it was a lifeline.

"I know, buddy, but I've got your back, I promise." Sam muttered against the boy's hair.

They stayed like that for a long time, the agent waiting for the young boy to feel ready to let go while he thought about the things he needed to sort out later during the day; they were too many, _and_, he still had no idea of what he was supposed to do about his work.

"I'm sorry, Sam." G's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry about what?" Sam asked, his hand running up and down the boy's back in a soothing manner. He hopped the boy would be back to sleep -if he _had _actually been asleep in the first place-, because he could already feel his own eyes begin to close.

"I woke you up, right? I didn't mean to, I just…"

"It's fine, kid, I don't mind, I had to wake up anyway." He lied, he still had had at least three good hours of sleep when the boy had awoken him, but he was not about to let that slip through his lips. "Are you okay?"

G nodded, not giving a verbal answer in fear his voice would betray him. He felt ashamed at being seen like that, but he was glad that it was Sam who heard him, and not anyone else. Sam was understanding, and, contrary to what G had felt when in foster homes, he knew the man would not laugh, or make fun him in front of other family members and friends because he was scared.

"You should go back to bed…" G mumbled guiltily just a few minutes later. He had felt the older man's grip become looser and looser, so he figured he was tired.

Sam opened his eyes, fighting against his body to stay awake. He strengthened his grip on the boy, his hand resuming the soothing motion on G's back in silent denial.

"I think we should go to the living room, hmm?" Sam suggested. "You can take the painkillers and rest a little; I have to call someone at work." He continued his voice fading as he began to talk to himself rather than the boy.

G hesitated; if there was something he didn't want in that moment, was to be a nuisance. But he nodded, because being alone was simply terrifying.

He slowly began to move away from the older male to stand up on his own, his breath catching up in his throat as the massive amount of pain took over his body once more. Sam, quickly noticing the level pain his adoptive son was in, gently moved the boy against him once again, allowing him to get his breathing back to normal before standing up, the teen still in his arms.

G didn't fight against the grip at all, and instead tried to hide his face in the man's chest, the warmth of the bigger body managing to relax the blond as Sam walked towards the living room, leaving G softly in the couch.

Sam quickly moved to turn on the light, giving the boy a small smile to calm him down, even if it was just a bit. He went into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of painkillers and taking out two of the pills and placing them on the table. The man then moved to the sink and poured the water into a glass he had grabbed from the shelf located right above his head.

Walking back to the boy, he motioned for him to sit up. Callen, though shaking just slightly as the adrenaline was not yet completely gone, complied. He slowly sat in the couch, and accepted the pills that Sam offered him.

Knowing full well that his partner was still asleep, considering the hour, Sam grabbed his phone from the coffee table in front of him while G simply stared, his body suddenly too heavy to move due to the lack of sleep.

There were three rings before the woman one the other side of the line picked up the phone.

"_Blye." _Came Kensi's voice, thick with sleep.

"You seriously need to stop answering like that." Sam stated, a small smile tugging at his lips. He took a glance at G, who had a defeated expression on his face, holding his middle with trembling hands.

"_What is it Sam? It's five-thirty in the morning."_ The woman said bluntly, and the man didn't expect any less.

Sam didn't answer, and leant over slightly, to gently pull up on the blonde's shirt, trying to figure out if there was any more damage than before. G didn't really resist, he just laid there as the very oversized garment was moved and then placed back to where it belonged once the man was satisfied with his check-up.

"_Sam?"_ Called Kensi, sounding much more awake than what she had been_. "Is everything okay? How's the boy?"_ She continued, concern distinctive in her voice.

"He is fine." The Agent in Charge replied. There was an almost unperceivable edge to his voice that alerted Kensi, but the woman did not comment. "Do you know if we're supposed to go to the office today?"

There was shuffling on the other side of the line, movement of paper. Sam could hear the woman curse quietly at the sound of something falling down.

He looked around the room, going over to the shelf his movies were in, and grabbed the remote while he waited. Sam gave the item to G, who took it distractedly, and looked at it as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"_Sam, I don't think you need to."_ Kensi called after a couple of minutes._ "We're working on our reports right now… actually, I don't think any of us need to be there, we can do the work from home." _She elaborated.

Sam nodded, letting out an affirmative sound while he cracked his neck, causing G to jump and leave his mindless-like state.

"Sorry." He whispered to the boy, placing a hand on his head to reassure him. "Kensi, do you know anything about G's clothes?"

There was a chuckle on the other side of the line. _"You mean besides the fact that we had to keep Hetty from using the kid as a dress-up doll? Some clothes are ready."_

Sam chuckled quietly at the statement. He had thought about something of the sort, but if G had clothes, he was sure they could manage something for him not to look like a two year old dressed by his cute-things'-lover mother.

Looking over to his young charge, the man frowned with worry. It _couldn't_ have been more than ten minutes since the painkillers had been given to him; as far as he knew, there was no way that the effects kicked in that soon, and he knew quite a lot about that.

"Hey, you with me, G?" He called, moving the phone away from his mouth.

The boy looked at him with tired eyes, nodding just slightly. He finally turned on the television, and lowered the volume to something appropriate for the hour.

"_Want me to come over and bring the clothes?" _Kensi asked over the phone, catching Sam's attention once again.

The man gave a glance to the TV, trying to catch anything on the channel before it changed, since G was simply zapping through them.

"Uh, sure, that'd be cool, Kens, wait just a second." Sam replied. G looked at him, the tired look still present in his eyes. The man moved the phone away from his mouth once again, placing it on his chest as if to cover it. "Bored, G?" He whispered.

The boy looked at him, and bit his lip guiltily, looking away.

"_He is." _Sam thought. "I'll be right back, buddy, don't be afraid."

He gave the distressed boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and stepped out of the room slowly, giving glances at G until he turned to go into the hall. The man placed the phone back in his ear, entering G's bedroom to see if he could find anything that had triggered such a reaction to being there.

"Kensi." Sam called.

"_Still here."_ Came the reply._ "What did you need Sam?"_

"How much do you know about video games? Handheld systems, I mean." Sam asked, walking over to the bed, where the tiger plush rested, a silent witness of his owner's experiences in the rough life of living in the system.

"_Dom talked about some of them quite a bit."_ Kensi assured. The man could hear rustling of clothes, or maybe the blankets, he wasn't sure. _"Why?"_

"Do me a favor. Whatever game he told you that you consider appropriate for G, get it. I'll pay you back." Sam stated. He grabbed the stuffed animal from the bed, looking at it more closely as he spoke.

"_You do know how much those things cost, right?"_ Came Kensi's reply. All movement seemed to have ceased, but now her voice sounded muffled.

_Blankets_; Sam concluded. "Not really. I guess I'll figure out when you give me the bill."

"_You're playing with fire."_ Kensi warned. _"'Night."_

"What? You're not gonna tell me who's there with you this time?"

"_Good_ bye_, Sam."_ Was the last word he heard before the woman hung up.

Sam couldn't help but chuckle when he heard the dial tone once again. He eyed the plush once again, and, still holding it, walked back to the living room, where G was waiting, still zapping through the channels of the TV.

Noticing he was once again in the room, G stopped and looked at him, eyes already closing tiredly. The man walked up to the couch and sat down next to the boy, showing him the tiger.

"Does it have a name?" He asked.

G nodded his head, rubbing his right eye with his hand. "A girl in a foster home said its name was Astra, and I liked it." He explained, extending his arm towards Sam to take the plush.

The man handed it over with a slight nod of the head while he smirked. He was glad that the boy was talking, even if it was only a little, opening up was opening up.

"Still hurts?" Sam wondered out loud. He finally rested his back against the sofa.

Silence reigned through the apartment as G moved slightly, tentatively testing his limbs and torso before shaking his head in a negative answer.

"No." He finally replied. He looked at Sam in the eyes, looked away for a second and then looked back, a troubled look adorning the icy-blue orbs. "But please don't let me go back to sleep, please, Sam. He is going to come back if I do."

G needed the man to understand. G was desperate for the man to understand.

And Sam wanted to. But he couldn't.

The boy was detached from the world.

* * *

_=D_

_Okay, so not totally happy with the way it turned out. Kensi was actually supposed to come over this chapter, but then I changed it. *shrugs* Guess that it can be next time._

_What did you think? Too many mistakes, too much of really nothing? good? Please tell me, your oppinions count =D._

_Question: Do you guys have any pets? (God, I seriously have to plan ahead for this. XD)_


	7. Fever

Okay, first of all, I deeply apologize for taking SOOOO long in updating this, but there have just been a couple of things going on here, and I hadn't been able to sit down and write this until recently. There are still some thing going on, but hopefully chapter eight won't take as long to be written/uploaded.

Also, I thank EVERYONE who reviewed, and I apologize for not naming you all one by one, but it's almost two AM here and I want to get this thing done as soon as I can. .-.

Now, on to the story:

* * *

_**Chapter 7-Fever**_

"Do you want to go back to your room?" Sam asked as he saw the teen's eyes closing. He touched the boy's shoulder, bringing his attention back to him.

G shook his head, his right hand coming up to his face to try and get the sleep out of his eyes while his left held the tiger plush tightly. He was determined to stay awake, to chase away those feelings of abandonment, and to keep John Miller as far away from him as he could.

Sam watched the actions intently. It was more than obvious that the boy was sick for sleep, and it worried him deeply how the child would react to anything that could happen, being as upset as he was.

"Please, G, you need to rest…" The man insisted, but the boy shook his head stubbornly, pleading him with his eyes not to be forced into it.

"I don't want to go in there," He began softly, looking down to his lap in shame.

Sam sighed inwardly, reaching over to massage the teen's scalp with his hand. He dug into his mind, trying to find a solution for the problem. But what to do? How do you deal with a child who must sleep, but is _terrified_ to do so?

"Hey, you really need to sleep, buddy. What do you say if we lie down here? I promise you I will be here for as long as you need." The adult assured.

G bit his lower lip, sight shifting from one side of the room to the other before falling back on Sam. He seemed to hesitate for another second before taking a deep breath and nodding his head.

Sam smiled with relief, helping his adoptive son onto a more comfortable position in the couch, being extremely careful of the injured ribs. He then sat down next to him, leaning a bit away from him, unable to shake away the feeling that he would frighten the child if he did otherwise.

The next four hours were spent in the couch; The adult sleeping soundly, one strong arm resting on G's shoulder for comfort, while the boy stayed in a semi-conscious state, his sleep mostly intermittent through the time; he would fall asleep for a few minutes before awaking startled, wildly looking around until he remembered where he was, and kept his eyes open until the exhaustion overcame him once more. Definitely not rest, it was pure torture.

G awoke from one of his light slumbers alone. Dazed and scared, the boy sat up as fast as he could, drawing in a breath as his injured torso screamed in sudden pain. His hands tightened around the tiger as he bent down to try and quell the burning sensation.

The noise in the kitchen made him realize that he was not actually alone, and dread filled him to such extent that he was unable to move much more from his position; his hands clenching into fists as his breath caught up in his throat.

"Sam?" He hesitantly called in a small voice.

Silence overcame the room immediately, until quick steps on the hardwood floor made their way to Callen's ears. The image of the dark-skinned man hurrying towards him caused him to let out a breath in relief; he was not alone, he was not locked up, and he was not dying. He looked around, trying to figure out where exactly he was.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Asked Sam once he was in front of the child. It was only then when G realized that the man's hands were holding his face, as if he was trying for him to look at his eyes.

With his eyes finally focusing, G wearily nodded. He was lying, and he knew so, but worrying the man was not something that the boy was willing to do, not if he could help it.

The boy tiredly let go of Astra and reached up to his face, placing his hands on top of Sam's, which were way too big for him to really cover them. He got a weak hold on then and slowly removed them from his face.

Sam didn't fight to keep his hands in place; he had the boy's attention after all; instead, he simply smiled at G in an attempt to further reassure him that everything was going to be all right. The man got up from his position in the floor, and carefully helped G to his feet as well.

"Let's go have something to eat, okay? Have you had hotcakes before? Do you like them?" The agent asked as he began to guide the young boy to the kitchen, Astra once again in the teen's grip. Sam began to wonder if the plush was something like a comfort item to the younger male; the one thing that could make him feel safe.

"I tried them once before, and they tasted nice." G said. His right hand came up to Sam's sleeve, holding it as he looked back into the living room, as if making sure no one had followed them.

The pair walked into the kitchen, where Sam once again helped G into a black stool. The boy didn't take his eyes away from the hallway, almost expecting something -Or someone- to jump out at any second.

Placing some newly-made hotcakes onto two porcelain plates, Sam made his way back to the island, noticing how the tiger now was on the stool next to the boy. He placed one plate in front of G, and the other on the place he would sit; right in front of the child.

"G, why don't you start eating, buddy? I'll be there in a second." Sam requested; if the night before was anything to go by, the kid still had a long way to go before he fully recovered his weight, and would probably be quite hungry until he did.

With a small affirmative sound, the boy dug onto his food. He gave small bites, as if tasting the flavor before smiling up at the man, thankful for the meal.

Sam smiled back before once again making his way to the counter, moving quite swiftly around the kitchen as he collected two glasses along with other stuff he needed. It was not until a few minutes later that the Head Agent returned to the island, leaving the glasses in their respective places.

A curious look crossed G's eyes as he stared at his glass. He looked over at Sam, who was now busy eating his own breakfast.

"What… is this?" He asked, his hand only slightly pointing at the object.

The man looked at the drink with slight confusion. It was pretty obvious that the child was not kidding in any way with his question, but to Sam it just seemed so surreal…

"It's hot chocolate, G." He replied, almost testing the words as they left his mouth.

Shock was the expression that adorned the boy's face at the statement. He leaned a bit into the table, giving the glass a closer look. He grabbed the glass, hesitation apparent in his movements. The boy brought it to his lips, and sipped slightly.

"It's good." The blond admitted, a small smile making his way to his face, contrasting with his tired eyes. "I like it."

"That's nice to know, buddy." Smiled Sam, happy that, at least, he had done something right that morning.

A knock at the front door made G jump, and tense in his seat. He drew in a breath as he looked around wildly, frantically searching for the source of the sound. It was Sam who quickly got up to approach G, placing his hands on Callen's face, inevitably forcing him to stop. He could feel the sweat under his palms as the crystal blue orbs got filled with tears.

"It's cool, buddy, it's just the door, okay?" Sam explained, taking his hands off G's face to place them on his shoulders, rubbing them gently. "Come on." He helped the blond off the stool and guided him to the couch, where the teenager sat and slumped over one of the armrests.

Once Sam had made sure that his charge was all right, he went to answer the door. He smiled when he saw who was on the other side. Kensi. Carrying two big plastic boxes with what Sam could only identify as clothing.

The man took one of the boxes with a light greeting as he entered the apartment once again, the young woman trailing behind him. They left the boxes next to the table, near to where G was resting.

"There's still one box left in the truck." Informed Kensi, eyeing the weak young boy carefully.

"I'll go get it." Sam offered. "Can you stay to keep an eye on him?"

The Senior Agent simply nodded and handed her keys to the large man, who took them and looked over to Callen, searching for any sign that he might be uncomfortable with the arrangements. Once he saw none, he asked the woman where the vehicle was and went out of the door.

Kensi bit her lip as she approached the tired body on the couch. Did the boy trust her enough not to be scared if she got that near? She silently begged for the answer to be a yes as she sat next to Callen.

When she ran her hand though the dirty blond hair, she frowned. Kensi immediately moved her hand to touch the child's forehead.

"Am I warm?" Asked a small voice that took Kensi by surprise.

She did her best not to let it show as she looked down to meet the tearing blue eyes. It was hard for Kensi to look at the poor child and not want to throw herself down the stairs for all the time they had made him wait for help. Of course, the team had had no idea that he had been kidnapped, but it made no difference in her eyes.

"Yeah," She replied softly "Are you feeling sick, sweetheart?" She continued in the same volume, not wanting to scare the blond.

"Cold." Was the simple answer she received before the front door opened, revealing Sam with another box, making his way towards them.

He left the box on top of another one, his gaze falling on the pair immediately. Overcome with worry, Sam got closer to them, crouching in front of his adoptive son.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay, bud?" The man asked, turning to Kensi as if he already expected the child not to respond.

"I think he has a fever." The woman replied, rubbing the boy's back comfortingly.

Sam reached out to touch the boy's face frowning when he realized that what he had felt just a few minutes ago was actually cold sweat, and that, in fact, the white skin was warmer than usual.

"Then it's better if we cover him up with something that fits, right?" Sam stated. "Did you see if there was anything he could use that was comfortable?"

Kensi nodded, and stood up, the warmth of her being near leaving Callen. He shivered just slightly when he saw her kneel in front of the boxes and opening the lid of the one closest to her. She first removed a medium sized box followed by a few squared ones; leaving them on the table before beginning her hunt for the pajamas she had seen when the team was helping her store the garments on the containers.

"Found some socks and underwear." Sam called from her side, hands searching through another box.

"'kay." The only female muttered under her breath. She searched through the many jeans, trousers, shirts and jackets until she found what she was looking for.

Kensi took out a pair of sweat pants with a blue and gray squares pattern and a blue, short-sleeved t-shirt that was thin enough not to restrict Callen's movements.

She showed them so Sam, who nodded in thanks as he took the clothes in his hands. The man stood up from his place at the floor and walked over to his young charge. He kneeled once again in front of the boy, placing the garments on his stomach in order to lift him up.

"Come here, buddy," Sam whispered to the child as the boy hid his face on his chest, one of his hands gripping his shirt loosely.

The man made a gesture with his head for Kensi to stay there as he walked over to his own bedroom, knowing the boy did not want to go to his own room. He placed G softly on his bed, and waited for a second for any sign of a negative reaction. When he saw none, he sighed.

"Can you change on your own?"

G nodded, giving the older male a very light smile. The adult dutifully turned around, giving the child some privacy.

Slowly, the teenager removed the overly large clothing from his body, swapping them for the garments meant for him; the feeling of the new fabric hugging his skin.

He informed Sam once he was done, and the man turned around once again. He eyed the clothes, just slightly big for him, which he supposed was to keep the teen comfortable. How Hetty had figured out the boy's size was out of Sam's power of understanding, Hetty made things happen, and that simple fact was what made the Agent in Charge trust the older woman with his life.

G was still looking at the clothing when he was lifted up once again, the battered boy barely felt a thing when the strong arms wrapped around him. He was much too busy weakly admiring the garments.

Sam walked back to the living room, not bothering with the clothes G had taken off, he could deal with that lately. The man placed the boy back on the sofa, where he laid down unmoving, looking at both adults.

Kensi caught Sam staring at the three boxes, obviously just noticing the amount of clothing Hetty had gotten the young teen.

"Whoa." The man breathed, making the woman chuckle slightly. She had already been unpacking a bit, separating pants from t-shirts from dressing shirts and putting them into organized piles.

"She went absolutely crazy with this, there was no stopping her. She also wants him to try on a few when you can take his to the office." The Senior Agent smirked.

The man went over to another box, opening it and beginning to take out its contents. He glanced out at his young charge from time to time, only to see him in the same position every single time; limply lying on the couch, his plush tiger over his chest. Sam also noticed how G still seemed to be fighting sleep, trying to keep his eyes as open as he could. He sighed, imagining the horrors he must have gone through to keep him up even when it was obvious he was so weak.

Besides him, he heard his companion sigh at the image of the boy. But when the woman noticed Sam was looking at her, she quickly returned to her task. Once they finished organizing the clothes they took turns taking them over to the bedroom, always making sure that someone stayed with G in case he needed them.

"Sam?" A weak voice called, when Sam was in the room about to take the last pile of clothing away, and the man was sure he wouldn't have heard it if most of his mind was occupied in figuring out what to do with the boy.

The Agent in Charge was sitting next to G on the sofa in a second. He ran a big hand through the blond hair, already slightly wet. He met G's eyes, teary and full of need, but stubborn not to let the tears flow.

"What is it, bud?"

"I'm cold." As if on cue, a strong shiver took over Callen's body, he attempted to make himself a little ball, but the pain in his ribs stopped him.

The older male brought the body close to his, trying to add some heat into the shivering figure. He looked up when he heard quiet footsteps approaching them, giving Kensi a worried glance once she was visible.

"Why don't you take him to his room? We have to put the clothes in the closet, anyway, so we can watch him." The woman suggested.

G stiffened in his protector's arms. Sam immediately began to rub the boy's back comfortingly, sometimes going up to his head to smooth down the dirty blond hair.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, G, we're all going to be there, so the bad man won't get to you." The man whispered, surprising himself by using such a childish term to describe John Miller. But it worked, because the teen became a limp bundle of muscle just a few seconds later.

Kensi went over to grab the pile of clothes and the three boxes that she had taken out of the first box she'd gone through to find pajamas. She placed the boxes on top of the pile of clothing and went to the bedroom, followed by Sam, who had picked up the boy carefully and was now cradling him to his chest.

Both Agents entered the room, Kensi going directly to where the other piles of clothing had been located while Sam went over to the bed, laying the child carefully in the bed before placing the covers on top of him.

The boy shivered a little before finally stopping, finding the warmth of the green blanket to be comforting. He finally opened his eyes once more; it was a fearful action, and he was clearly expecting for John Miller to jump out at any second to try and take him away again.

Kensi watched all the reactions with a keen eye. While the Agent in Charge was bending down to the boy's eye level to ease him, she grabbed the rectangular box she had brought with her and opened it, revealing a black DSi. She turned it on, and made sure the settings were the desired ones, at least to her knowledge of young boys. She turned it off and left in on the floor, turning to remove the plastic wrapping covering the three remaining boxes. She eyed the back of the boxes, considering which would be the most appropriate for G to use at the moment. Finally deciding for "_Pokémon SoulSilver", _she took the small cartridge and put it on the Gaming System.

When the woman looked up, Sam was already placing some clothes on the hangers she had brought, and the child had calmed down considerably, but was steeling glances at Sam every now and then to make sure he was still there.

She made her way up to the bed, effectively earning Sam's attention, and sat down next to G. The boy tensed, but realizing that it was her, he calmed down slightly, causing Kensi to smile a little and run her hand down the boy's hair. The woman extended the DSi to G, who looked at it and then eyed the woman with confusion.

"We bought this for you, sweetie." Even with years of training, Kensi found it hard not to tear up at the expression of pure shock that took over the child's face. Both agents just wanted to hug him and make sure nothing else happened to him.

"R-really?" G asked, just to be overtaken by a sudden cough. He whimpered with each involuntary movement, it being too much for his injured ribs.

Sam jumped slightly on the mattress so that G would be sitting between the two adults, both of them rubbing the child's back and whispering soothing words until the coughs stopped. The boy leaned heavily on Sam trying to regain his breath.

Kensi placed the gaming console on G's hand and fixed the pillow so that the boy would be able to sit up without effort. If he wasn't going to sleep, which he wasn't, she was sure, then he should at least try to do something interesting.

The boy directed a shy smile at the woman, blushing just slightly. He tried to look into her eyes, but turned away quickly. He had no idea why had been doing that lately, but the sole thought of looking at someone's eyes for more than a few seconds simply terrified him. He took a few deep breaths, fighting for the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It's all right, G, just relax." Sam said, finally letting go of the boy once he saw he was calm enough. "You just play, okay? We'll arrange your clothes."

G hesitated for a second; he knew that they wouldn't judge him, especially now that they had found out he was sick, but he simply wasn't used to people doing things like that for him. When a sudden sense of nausea took over him, he couldn't help but just nod at the adults, his tired eyes closing for a few seconds before opening slowly.

The Agents smiled slightly, and turned around, beginning to work on placing the clothes on the right hangers, which had been instructed by Hetty, and hanging them on the closet. Sam rolled his eyes at the amount of different hangers there could be, and he could feel his eyes widening when he realized that there were more clothes than those that could be hung.

Kensi turned to check on the boy, noticing that he, though utterly weary, seemed to be absorbed by the game. His eyes moved slowly across the screen, and he sometimes blinked fast as if he was trying to focus the image.

The woman sighed quietly, and plopped down on the bed next to G, causing the boy to flinch violently, backing away until the wall stopped him, his hands clenched the DS as the same time his eyes closed, wincing in both pain and fear.

Kensi immediately reacted by getting up from the bed, and apologizing while leaning in a bit to be closer to the boy, but not close enough to scare him even more. _Stupid_ she told herself, why on Earth had she done that? She knew that the boy was on the edge, that anything could frighten him… so _why?_

She was taken away from her thoughts by Sam, who sat on the bed and placed the blond on his lap, lightly rocking him as he rubbed his back and whispered words to him that Kensi was unable to hear. She figured that it was working, because a few minutes later, G finally began losing up, taking deep breaths while holding tightly to the man's shirt.

"I'm really sorry, sweetie, I don't know what I was thinking." Kensi said in a soft voice. G looked at her, but did not say anything.

"Hey, come on, let's all rest, I'll make lunch, all right?" Sam suggested. He got up, bringing G along with him.

Kensi was quick to grab the DSi out of the weak grasp as the males were leaving. She fumbled with the buttons until she was able to make the menu appear and hit "SAVE", waiting for the process to stop before she turned the device off and stuffed it in a black backpack that had been in one of the boxes of clothing.

She walked to the kitchen, easily remembering the way from the last time she had been there. She found G already in a stool, leaning in the table, arms acting as a pillow, and Sam moving around the kitchen grabbing some plates and bags of what seemed to be ingredients.

"Need help, Sam?" She asked, keeping her volume low. She just wouldn't forgive herself if she scared G anymore.

The man turned, stopping his movements for a second. He shook his head and motioned for the woman to take a seat, then he returned to his cooking.

_Okaaay… _That had been weird, at least in Kensi's mind, but she shook her head and obeyed; there were times when Sam was simply a mystery for her, and with everything that was going on, she wouldn't be surprised if everything was due to stress.

The Senior Agent moved to the stool next to Callen and sat on it. She realized that she actually felt tired, no matter how strange it sounded, and it was nice to be sitting on such a comfortable chair. Glancing down at the boy, Kensi thought he was asleep, considering just how calmed he looked. She reached out, and fixed the neck of the shirt, which had been sliding off his shoulder a little, causing G to move his head, looking at her from just above his arm.

"Hey." The child whispered, his eye closing as he spoke, only to open again a second later.

Kensi smiled at him, feeling that she was forgiven. It didn't stop her from feeling guilty about what she had done, but at least G didn't blame her… or was a little delusional at the moment. The woman rubbed the boy's back gently until a plate with a simple sandwich was placed in front of him, followed closely by something a little more elaborated for herself and Sam, who had just sat across from G.

The man tapped G's head with a finger, and the boy slowly raised his head, rubbing left eye with his hand. Sam pushed the plate a little more towards the teenager, watching closely as the boy grabbed one half of the sandwich and gave it a little, hesitant bite.

Callen swallowed before taking the top slice of bread off the sandwich to analyze its contents. He began to take off the tomatoes and lettuce, giving his adoptive father a cautious glance to see if he didn't mind. When the man nodded at him, he finished taking the things off, leaving them aside, and placed the slice of bread back on top of the ham before giving it another bite.

Although Sam smiled at the antics, Kensi looked at him with a slight frown, to which the Agent in Charge waved his hand a little, silently telling her that he would explain later.

G had to control himself not to fall off the stool. His head was spinning; whether it was from the pain of his injured ribs and knee or the fever, he did not know. He felt that he was going to throw up at any second, and his eyes were watering terribly, but he forced himself not to show any more than what he had already. _Men don't cry, ya little pussy! _One of his foster fathers had told him one day when he was six.

_At the front yard of a large house, Callen was playing with a plastic bottle he had found, using it as a football. He had seen his foster brothers playing, but like they didn't let him touch their things, he had found something which he could use just like that._

_He was playing alone, since most of the neighbors were much older than him and those who weren't were not allowed to play with him. He had no idea why, but at that moment he didn't particularly minded. He had a toy, and he was going to play with it, accompanied or by himself._

_He placed the bottle on the ground, preparing for a kick like those he had seen on the television when his foster family was watching a game._

_G backed away a few steps, and looked up. In his childish mind, he imagined the goal, right there, in the middle of the street, at a height he thought he could reach with his strength._

_He looked at the bottle, making sure it wasn't lost in-between the grass, and began running, he kicked it with all his strength, sending it to the middle of the street, however, it went a little below from where the boy had pictured the yellow limits of the goal._

_Disappointed, the small boy looked back at the house, making sure no one was watching him before sadly walking to fetch his new-found toy. His steps were slow and heavy, and he kept his eyes on the ground as he went._

_Finally arriving to where the bottle was, he bent down to pick it up, looking through the transparent plastic as he held it between his little hands. How could he have missed? He had watched closely how the players kicked, so why couldn't he kick like them?_

_A sudden screak filled his ears and he looked up, his sight being filled with nothing more than a bright light. Something dark flew across the light a second before he closed his eyes. And then he was flying._

_G's back hit the concrete, hard, but his head had been covered by something soft, yet strong at the same time. He could feel warmth on top of him, which has, strangely, becoming heavier and heavier._

_There was a yell, and the weight lifted. The boy tried to open his eyes, but the pain in his back was just too much. Large hands were on him, trying to feel if anything had broken._

"_Hey, kid." A strange voice called. Callen could hear it, but he didn't reply. "You okay?"_

_A tear escaped from G's eye, followed closely by a sob. He brought his hands up to his face as he cried, and tried to clean the tears, to no avail. He moved his right hand to try to touch his back, the crying becoming harder._

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't see him there, he came out of nowhere!" Exclaimed a woman. Callen didn't recognize her, but he could hear the fear in her voice._

_But the pain on his back was unbearable! He twitched awkwardly, trying to get off it, screaming out in pain._

"_What's goin' on here?" Yelled the booming voice of the person whom he feared greatly._

"_Uh, he was on the street, sir, he was almost run by a car." The stranger male asked again._

"_I'm sorry, sir, the boy was running, and I didn't see him!"_

_The fight continued for a while, though he knew that his foster father only wanted to get out of there and go back to his house without any trouble._

_After what seemed like hours the woman finally left, seemingly pleased that no one was going to sue her or anything of the sort. A rough hand pulled G up, and shook him, making him cry out in pain before he opened his eyes. Teary blue orbs first met surprised green ones, and he recognized the teen boy as the neighbor from across the street._

_He didn't couldn't see anything else before his foster father violently pulled him home. G cried and screamed all the way there, just like any other six-year-old would have done._

_Callen was thrown on the floor, not even a second going by before he was attacked with yells from the older male. In the end, though he didn't really hear at the time, he was punished without eating for the next two days._

"_And stop cryin', boy! Men don't cry, ya little pussy!"_

G shook his head slightly, if anything, it just made his pain worsen, that simple thought. He barely registered that the adults had finished eating, though he hadn't touched his own food after the third bite.

The teen got up along with the other two people, his face contorting onto one of pain at the movements. Barely noticing Kensi and Sam moving, G walked forward with his eyes closed.

His foot got caught in the chair Kensi had just occupied, and he quickly tried to reach for the table to stop his fall, unsuccessfully. Callen's arm collided against the back of the chair, and he closed his eyes once again. He fell to the ground with a cry of pain, making himself into a little ball to try and stop the sensation, only increasing it with his movements.

"_Don't, cry"_ He thought to himself bitterly as one tear escaped his eye. This just seemed to perforate the obstructed hole in a pipe, because the next thing the adults knew was that the young orphan was bawling his eyes out, sprawled on the floor and unmoving.

Sam practically flew to G's side. He knew, by experience, that a pain like that was truly unbearable, and combined with the feverish state the boy was in, the Agent in Charge could understand perfectly. In fact, he would have been surprised if he, himself, had not shed a few tears like that.

While the man tried to move Callen out of the floor without causing him even more pain, the teen scolded himself mentally for showing tears in front of Kensi. He had to be strong, that's what they'd always taught him, and he got ashamed that he had broken the number one rule he had set upon himself when he was still very young.

"It's okay, buddy, it's fine, it'll be over in a minute." Sam told him as he finally managed for Callen to sit on his legs. It was not true, of course, but he had to tell G _something _and he wasn't about to tell him to shut up, since he knew it would only make matters worse. G already had feelings of abandonment that had bottled up throughout the years, and if him, the one he now trusted, were to tell him such a thing, the boy's trust would probably end up permanently damaged.

And Sam didn't want that.

He smiled gratefully at Kensi when the bottle of painkillers crossed his line of vision, and he saw up to see her holding it to his face. Sam took out the dose with one hand, since the lid had been helpfully removed by the Senior Agent, and shook G's body a little.

A sob stopped midway up Callen's throat. He attempted to clean the tears, clear his throat, or even to stop crying, all of it unsuccessfully. He couldn't really see at all, because his eyelids refused to cooperate with him, but he could, barely, hear Sam's voice telling him to open his mouth. He obeyed. Slowly. Painfully. But he obeyed, and he felt the pills making their way through his mouth, his throat, and he was almost sure he felt them fall cleanly in his stomach.

"Don't." Muttered the boy, sounding more like a pained whimper than an actual word. "Don't let me sleep."

Sam was beginning to understand the terrible panic his young charge was suffering. He remembered being tortured, he remembered how much it had cost him to trust anyone, to sleep peacefully once again… and he was an adult when it had happened to him. He imagined it must have been much worse as a kid.

But he knew the boy was sick. Both physically and mentally exhausted, and that would not only cause trouble for him but would also bring more problems to the boy.

"Please, G, just have a nap, in my bed, if you want to, I promise you I will check your room thoroughly and sit in the hall just where I can see you."

There was a weak shake of the head from G's part, while he tried to hide his crying face from the woman in the room. Sam tightened the hold around him, holding him close and caressing his back as reassuringly as he could.

It was just hard. Sam wanted to make everything better, but how do you do that when you can't truly reach someone to protect them? When you can only hold them and wish, and pray, and beg for them to get better as soon as they can?

Kensi looked at the pair, wanting to intervene but knowing it will be fruitless. Besides, even if she could help, she would always be there, so it was better if she just allowed the males to work things out. While the two stubbornly continued with the discussion, the woman placed all the dishes in the sink and washed them. She left them there, however, because she knew just how OCD Sam got about the dishes and movie boxes being in order and she wasn't quite sure where those belonged.

After twenty minutes of crying, G had finally calmed down and accepted to try and sleep as long as Sam kept his promise. Sam was sure it was more out of the effect of the drugs rather than G wanting to do it, but not thinking twice about it, he carefully pulled Callen up with him as he stood (he had now seen how the boy reacted to pain, and he did not like it at all).

Swiftly, Sam and Kensi began walking towards the man's room, the Agent in Charge feeling G's head fall in defeat against his shoulder just seconds before the blankets were moved so that he could place the small body on it.

The man covered the teen with the blankets and sighed in relief just a little, since he at least knows G will sleep for a little while.

"Is he always this nervous, Sam?" A female voice behind him whispers.

He nodded, because what else could he say to that? G was _always_ nervous, and it frightened him to no end just thinking about what might be happening in the boy's head. It seemed a terrible place to be, at the moment.

The pair wordlessly walks back to G's room, and while Sam checks the place, just like he told G he would, he couldn't help but feeling stupid looking under the bed like he was looking for monsters.

"_You are, man, you are." _He told himself.

The adults continued to fold the clothing that didn't fit in the closet and sorting them into piles, leaving them in the floor right next to the closet space. There would be a need for drawers very soon. It was just then that Sam noticed Kensi grabbing some clothes while she stuffed them in a black backpack that hung from her shoulder.

Feeling the stare piercing the top of her head, Kensi looked up just slightly. "It's an emergency pack."

Emergency Pack? Sam rolled his eyes at the sudden cautious attitude, but he had to smile, because, in the end, not only he was doing the same thing, but he truly appreciated his friend's effort to help G.

A pained yell interrupted the conversation. Sam was fast to spring into action, running to his room with no doubt in his mind that the one screaming had been G.

He saw Callen looking wildly around the room, tears once again streaming down his face while he hugged himself , like the two thin arms were his shield to the world. The moment Sam was there, he grabbed the boy and hugged him with all the strength he dared to.

"He was here, Sam, he's not gone, please believe me." The man hears, and the volume was so quiet that he was sure that if he had not been hugging him as hard, he would have not heard such a tiny voice.

"I know, I believe you, G, but I'm here. Kensi's here. We'll protect you." Sam assured the boy, the hold tightening. "I'll protect you, son."

Thankfully, the episode did not last as long as the previous one, and G. Callen was calm enough within a few minutes. The boy still didn't let go of the man's shirt, and Sam kept both protective arms around him, just in case G needed them there.

It was only then that Kensi dared to go into the room, handing the boy the plush tiger he seemed to treasure, although she was not sure why. G immediately reached for it, although he seemed somewhat hesitant to actually grab it; he stared at his hand for a few seconds, a grimace adorning his face, before finally touching it and bringing up to his chest, where the plush simply seemed to belong.

There were a few minutes spent in silence before Kensi noticed the hour. Claiming she had to leave, she began to walk towards the door, Sam, still holding Callen following her in silence.

As she was leaving, she thought she finally understood a little of what Sam's tone over the phone had been all about, and she forgot about the annoyed she had been at him for calling like that, since she would have probably done the same thing. She got into her car, still reflecting about the topic, and drove off.

Immediately after the door closed, Sam placed G on the couch and sat down on the edge, reclining it enough for him to be comfortable. He looked over at his charge, who, if possible, looked even more worn and tired than before; the sweaty clothes, the pale skin glittering with the same liquid, dark bags that were beginning to form under his eyes.

Sam grabbed a cushion that was next to him and placed it on his lap.

"Come on, G, lay you head here and lets both go to sleep, all right?"

The teen simply doesn't have the strength to argue, and slowly, still clutching Astra to his chest, he leans down, placing his head on the offered cushion and immediately closing his eyes, sleeping taking over both males as they _finally _get a bit of decent sleep.

* * *

Ah, there we go. Those are almost 12 pages on word, so I guess it was at least worth the wait. Hopefully?

Also, the idea for this chapter was **angelprincesslilac, **although I did change it a bit from what she told me, with luck she's like the vision and approach I gave the chapter.

**Question: What is your favorite vehicle? **


	8. True Strength

Okay! So I hope the wait wasn't too long =P Here's the next chapter of "_A Different Life" _Which... hopefully... you will come to enjoy!... or like, at least.

Honestly, this chapter changed titles like five times, but I decided to leave it like this and I hope it fits!

Special thanks to: **Hope06**, **Paineverlasting**, **Kookykey**, and **angelprincesslilac** for reviewing!

Without nothing else to say for now, the chapter!

* * *

_**Chapter 8-True Strength**_

It was a shrill ring that broke the peaceful silence the apartment was in. Sam awoke with a start, looking around to find the source of the incessant sound. He felt G stir on his lap, and the man quickly began rubbing his arm while he made shushed him back into sleep.

Sam reached for the phone on the dark, yawning as he picked it up from the small coffee table right next to the couch he was in and brought it over to his face.

"Hello?" He said sleepily.

"_Sam, I need you to come to the office immediately, there seems to be a problem."_ The voice on the other side of the line was hurried, and there was another voice in the background that sounded just as accelerated.

The large man sighed slightly as he sat up correctly, doing his best not to wake G up from his much needed slumber. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, waiting for the male at the other side of the line to elaborate.

"What kind of problem, Eric?" He whispered once he noticed the male at the other end of the line was not going to say more.

"_Well…"_ There was some hesitation from the man, in which only the female voice in the background could be heard. _"It seems that the body Kensi brought in was not John Miller."_

Wait… "But…" Now much more awake than what he was a few minutes ago, Sam placed the phone so that he could hold it between his shoulder and his cheek, carefully moving the resting teenager's head out of his lap so that he could stand up. "I saw when Kensi killed that man, Eric, he's the one in the pic you sent me."

"…_Which is why you have to come." _Said Eric hesitantly_. "And, uh, you should probably bring the boy. Kensi said you had him."_

Sam grabbed the phone with his right hand, while he placed the left one at the back of his neck, feeling the bones crack as he moved his head from side to side. He sighed, but nodded his head. It wasn't like he could actually deny the request to the Tech Operator.

"All right, then," He said, eyeing the young teenager as if to see if he had remained asleep, and smiled slightly when he saw that G had not even moved. "I'll be right over, Eric."

The line cut immediately. Leave it to Eric to leave without saying goodbye when not in a case.

Sam looked at G a little closer, noticing his breathing seemed slightly more worked up than the day before. The dark circles were still prominent under the boy's closed eyes, and cold sweat still adorned his face. His t-shirt was covered completely in the salty liquid, as was the upper part of his trousers.

Predicting that, due to the lack of movement the boy had shown until then, he could go change and pick up something for G without him even noticing, the Special Agent left the phone on the table he had picked it up from and hurried to his room.

The man changed clothes as fast as he could, not wanting his adopted son too stay alone for a long time, especially not since he thought that the man who had kidnapped him was after him. _What's he going to do when he knows that the man is apparently not dead?_

Finishing fixing his tight red shirt, Sam threw the clothes he had been wearing into a basket located in the corner of the room, leaving them ready to be picked up once he had time to do laundry.

He walked towards G's room, picking up a few clothes from the piles that hadn't fit in the closet and a pair of clean underwear and socks, only stopping to pick up the shoes that were provided by the hospital, since Hetty hadn't sent any. The Special Agent looked around the room and grabbed the bag Kensi had packed the day before, stuffing the DSi and the games that had not yet been used before going back to the living room.

Leaving the backpack on the table, Sam held Callen's clothes in his hands and looked at the boy. The kid needed sleep desperately, and this was the first time he had stayed like that for so long since he found him, so maybe he should just change him himself, it wouldn't be the first time that he saw him naked, no biggie… then again, if the boy woke up _while_ he was being changed, he wouldn't like it… _at all. _But if he took the kid to the office with his clothes looking like that Hetty would have his head. Or his arm, if she was feeling charitable.

So what to do?

Finally sighing, the Agent in Charge bent down and squeezed the boy's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up without scaring him much.

"Mhm," Was what escaped from G's throat, followed closely by a pained gasp.

"Shh," Whispered Sam. Maybe that hadn't been such a good idea after all. "It's okay, buddy, I just need you to change your clothes."

The teen opened his eyes a little, and Sam could see that they were still bloodshot. But the boy began to sit up in the couch, a pained expression making its way to his face as he did so. The adult hastily left the clothes on the floor and helped his charge, G leaning heavily on his arm to steady himself.

"It hurts." The voice was too weak for Sam's liking, and the young boy's eyes were already closing up once again.

"I know, I'll give you the pain killers after you change, all right?" The man had to apply more strength to his arm once he realized that he was the one holding the kid up.

He placed the pile of clothes besides G and, with his free hand, he reached to touch the teen's forehead, testing the temperature. Lips straightened in a tight line, Sam cursed under his breath; he wasn't sure the exact measurement because he didn't have a thermometer in the house, but G was quite warm.

Sam shook his head. Now he had to get to the office even faster. He straightened up the boy as gently as he could and pried Astra from his fingers.

"G, come on, buddy, come on." Sam began taking the shirt off the teenager, surprised when the blond did not fight against his movements and he could get the new shirt and hoodie on with no problem.

The boy didn't really see what was going on. He just wanted to close his eyes; they were itchy and felt like they were going to tear up at any second. Callen slumped against the large body that was in front of him and buried his face in the crook of the man's neck, seeking for warmth.

Sam was ready to give it up if the situation continued like that, but he remained calm, pushing the information Eric had given him to the back of his mind, and focusing on Callen.

He gently pushed the small body away from him, in order to be able to look at the boy's face. Icy blue eyes looked at him pleadingly._ He just wanted to sleep._

"I need you to change your clothes." The man repeated, holding the pants, underwear and socks to the boy.

"Why?" It was obvious that the younger male was making an effort to stay lucid, for he took the clothes out of Sam's grasp in his hands and opened his eyes a little more.

"'Cause we're going to where I work." The Special Agent said, hoping he didn't sound too aggressive in the boy's ears. "You don't want Kensi to see you all sweaty, do you?" He added when the blond stared at him with confusion.

G shook his head tiredly and began to stand up, sucking in a breath when his ribs ailed. He closed his eyes trying to calm the pain, giving various shallow breaths as he walked, not wanting his middle to ache even more because of a deep breath.

The dark-skinned man followed Callen closely, making sure the wobbling teen was not going to fall asleep while on his way. G kept a hand in the wall the whole time, almost like it was his guidance point to get to the bathroom.

Once there, the boy tumbled to the toilet and sat down, holding his head with one hand before letting it fall to his side. He didn't bother to make sure Sam had turned around before he began taking off his pants and underwear, switching them for the fresh garments the man's boss had gotten for him before changing the socks and putting on the shoes with clumsy movements.

Sam frowned before quickly looking away, not wanting to make the boy uncomfortable, though the agent doubted he could feel that when he was in such a state. Regret for waking up the boy filled his mind. He should have taken him while he was asleep, and if he woke up and he wanted to change, _then _he could, but only if the boy wished to, and not for the man's own good.

"I don't feel good." Were the words that brought Sam back to reality. His head snapped back towards his charge, only to find him looking up at him through half-lidded eyes, his mouth open ajar in a grimace.

Now standing down in front of the boy, and grabbing his shoulder to hold him in place, Sam snatched the pain killers from the sink counter and took two out, handing them to the teen before he poured water in the glass he usually kept there for when he washed his teeth and giving it to Callen so that he could swallow the pills.

Seemingly still out of it, Callen swallowed the medicine with the help of the water and placed the glass back on the sink with shaky hands. The older male kneeled in front of the boy and rubbed his arms slightly, hoping to get full attention. When he didn't, the man stood up, took his cell phone out of his pocket and checked the hour, 10:37 AM, before dialing one of the few numbers he knew by heart.

"_Hey, Sam."_ Kensi sounded strangely nervous _"Are you almost here?"_

"I'm about to leave. Hey, can you make sure there are ice packs around? I'm gonna need one." The man helped G stand, holding him up against him.

"_Aw, does he still have a fever?"_ Kensi asked, but said that, yes, she would, before Sam could answer.

"Thanks. See you in a few." The man hung up and pocketed the phone and pills. He ruffled G hair slightly and finally picked him up.

The kid crumpled against him almost immediately, head falling to rest on the strong chest as Sam made his way back to the living room, maneuvering the fragile body on his arms to lift up the backpack he had left there and hang it from his shoulder. After vacillating a second, the man took Astra as well putting it on top of the boy so that he would hold it.

The man left the apartment and began walking down the steps to the street calmly, not wanting to disturb the blond, who once again was fighting to keep his eyes open.

Sam had to admit that the boy was something else. He had rescued many people in his time like a SEAL and while in the OSP, and all of them only wished for rest after they were found. All of them wanted to sleep and not go back to work; some of them even wished to take their lives away. And yet this boy, one of the youngest, only cared about not showing many weaknesses in front of anyone.

Arriving to the car, Sam opened the door without letting go of the teen and gently placed the boy on the seat, fastening his seatbelt and leaving the backpack in the floor by his feet before closing the door and hurrying to climb into the driver's seat.

"A-are there going to be a lot of people?" Asked the younger male quietly, causing Sam to eye him slightly as he drove.

The Agent hesitated. He wasn't sure of what to say to the boy, because yes, there would be a lot of people, but he didn't want him to get scared or anything of the sort.

"Yeah, but you just stay close to me or Kensi, okay?"

The teen nodded his head, although he was not completely convinced, and looked at his lap, nervous. It wasn't too long before the boy removed his hands from where they were resting to place them underneath his legs. He was sick of looking at them, every time he did, he was sure they turned dirtier and dirtier. It had gotten to the point where he didn't want to hold his stuffed tiger; he didn't want to stain it. Not with that _filth_.

G closed his eyes, wanting to stop the itching sensation he felt. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep, not if there were going to be so many people around him in just a few more minutes. He couldn't allow himself to do so.

The ride continued in silence, and though Sam wanted to ask the boy how he was feeling, he refrained when he saw the constant twitching of the boy's legs. He was sure there was something Callen wasn't telling him, but he hoped that he would tell him when he was ready.

"This is it?" Callen asked when the car stopped in front of the Hispanic styled building that looked strangely abandoned. The boy, whose head was resting heavily on the seat, was eyeing the place with tired confusion.

"Yeah, it's better if people don't know where we work." The man replied, turning off the car and rubbing his eyes to get any evidence that he had been sleeping just thirty minutes ago out of his face.

Sam stopped his movements and looked at the teen in the seat next to his, who was eyeing the building with careful curiosity. He honestly didn't think G was ready to walk around the place like nobody knew who he was, because most people in there did, and the man was sure the kid would not appreciate the side glances that waited for him.

He sighed and stepped out of the car, walking towards Callen's door. The boy didn't even show a sign that he knew he had to step out of the vehicle; he simply stopped glancing out of his window and bit his lip, seemingly concentrating on something.

Knowing that people were waiting for him, the Agent in Charge opened the door and bent down so that he could look at the boy. The man smoothed down G's hair, effectively gaining his attention.

"Are you okay, buddy?" The man asked, moving his hand from the teen's hair down to his shoulder to give it a light squeeze.

The boy nodded, and gave him a weak smile, his eyes once again avoiding the brown orbs that looked at him with concern. He felt the big hands guiding him out of the car and he could only allow himself to follow the motion, pressing himself to Sam once he was outside and holding Astra between his right arm and his chest.

Sam grabbed the backpack, hung it from his shoulder and closed the door, not once letting go of G. He looked at the boy once more before slowly walking towards the building, pulling out his keys and opening the door that separated them from the office.

It had to be less than a second that they had been inside before G went completely rigid. Various people were making their way around the building, some talking on their cell phones, others just reading the papers inside different colored folders without paying much attention to their surroundings.

The boy closed his eyes and clenched a fist, holding Sam's shirt tightly. He couldn't do this. It was too noisy, too full. Callen fought to keep his breathing under control when he felt his adoptive father's strong arm hold him closer to himself.

_It's okay, _he told himself, hoping that it would be enough, but knowing it wasn't. Something had happened to him and now he couldn't even know there were people in the same room without losing his cool.

"It's okay, buddy, I'm here, just relax." He heard Sam whisper to his ear. And he was trying to, he really was, but there were so many voices, and so many sounds, and so many light brushes from the people that walked past him.

G could feel his knees go weak as he let out a sob, hiding his face on Sam's chest so that he wouldn't have to let go of his plush tiger. _Why was he crying? There was no reason to! _He fought against the tears that were beginning to fall; _it was stupid, he shouldn't be crying over every little thing!_

The teen felt his feet abandon the floor as the Agent in Charge picked him up and carried him to a leather sofa that was hidden by a wall, hoping the diminished sounds would help the boy calm down. G felt the curious glances some people threw at him while the dark-skinned man held him close to himself, and he wanted no more than for them to stop looking at him while he was in such a state.

It was not much longer for the boy to be laid down on the sofa and for the light blanket that rested there to be wrapped around him. The strong arms not leaving him once, G found himself pressed against Sam.

"It's okay, G, it's going to be all right." The pale skin still felt quite warm under Sam's touch, and the man could only wish for the crying to be over soon so he could place that ice pack on the boy's forehead and race to the Eagle's Nest to know what had Eric exactly meant when he said that the dead man was not Miller.

A few minutes later, when the small set of sobs and tears had been replaced by just heavy breathing and a few hiccups, was when G clenched his teeth in a frustrated fashion.

"I'm so stupid." Were the words that caught Sam's full attention.

The man unwrapped his arms from around his adopted son and gently held his face, looking at him directly in the eyes. The clear gaze diverted for a second before finding the dark stare.

"You're not stupid, G, what makes you say that?"

The boy shrugged, sniffling a little bit and looking away. His fist tightened into a trembling fist, holding Sam's shirt like it was a life line "I just feel so weak," He whispered, looking at the small part he could see of the main room as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "I can't help crying at every little thing." He elaborated in a volume even lower than before. The blue eyes locked with brown ones once more.

The older male shook his head, making sure G caught every movement. He hesitated a little before cleaning the tear stain on the boy's left cheek with his thumb. "G, listen to me, okay?" It was painful to have to look into those eyes full of hurt for any longer, and to only think that the boy had to live with it was about to make the agent tear up himself. "Crying isn't showing weakness… It shows you've been strong for too long."

And that, Sam hoped as he pulled the boy for a comforting hug, would be enough to make his son understand that he didn't mind his tears; that he could come to him whenever he needed without any fear of being judged.

* * *

So, yeah... I hated the chapter apart from the last scene, which I loved ._. I'm sorry that there was only Sam and G in this chapter, but hopefully, things will go as planned ant next chapter we will have Hetty! ... hopefully, don't get your hopes up, though, because I don't wish to disappoint anyone.

In case anyone was wondering about the sofa I mentioned, sorry, I didn't know how to describe it better, here's an image you can see to make yourselves clear: http:/ imageshack. us / photo / my-images /813 / (Just get rid of the spaces)

And there has to be a question of course! I know you guys love them (Kidding, I actually think most of you don't like them =P, but believe me, they help):** Leaving black and pink apart, which is your favorite color?**

Until next time! Have a good time!


	9. Unexpected Curveball

Okay! So I took very long again... sorry =/ And the chapter was going to be longer, but I realized I was taking way too much time.

Special thenks to:** gaia artemis**, **keviana**, **kookykey**, **HiDiNgFrOmYou** (wow, your pename kinda made me want to copy/paste ._.), **Msedward**,** Hope06**, **Paineverlasting**, **Golden Lass**, and **AccioSnarry,** for your wonderfull reviews. I read all reviews!

So! without anymore to say for now... the chapter!

* * *

_**Chapter 9-Unexpected Curveball**_

Sam felt a small tap on his shoulder and he turned, finding Kensi standing behind him. She was holding two towels on her right hand, which were covering the ice packs he had asked her for.

The man gave the Senior Agent a small smile before letting go of G slowly, ready to hug the boy again if he showed any sign that he was going to have another meltdown. But the boy simply cleaned the tear stain that his adoptive father had missed and sniffled, looking at the two adults.

"Eric's waiting for you, Sam." Kensi said, reaching her free hand to smooth down the thirteen-year-old's hair.

Sighing, Sam turned towards his charge once more and smiled at him, rubbing his arms a bit. "I'll be back as soon as I can, buddy." He eyes Kensi through the corner of his eye "Kensi's going to stay here with you, okay?"

The boy nodded, and watched as Sam got off the sofa, only to be replaced by the woman a few seconds later. She smiled as she gently pushed him to lie down on the sofa, although he was able to stay just a little bit reclined.

The woman placed one of the ice packs on G's forehead, not removing the towel, while she removed the cloth from the other one, lifted the blanket that was covering G, and placed it on the boy's knee, holding it there as the teenager hissed.

"I noticed you were limping." Kensi explained with a small smile when he looked at her with confusion, both of his hands holding Astra to his chest.

The two fell into silence. They honestly did not know why; the Senior Agent was just worried about the whole situation: G being sick, the now unknown identity of the body down in the basement, _and_ the plausible fact that the only way to make youngster go to sleep would be to knock him out.

G fought to stay awake, distracting himself by looking at the different objects the small space had, which was not much. He could see, though, that the building did not look like anything he had imagined. He knew Sam was something like a cop, though he had not asked for details, but this building looked much more like a house than an office, especially something that was meant for cops…

Why were they here, again? Sam hadn't told him anything, but both he and Kensi seemed really nervous over something, and that was making him anxious. What if there was a problem with him, or… or Sam had grown tired of having to be with him for so long?

"What's going on?" G whispered the woman sitting next to him. He closed his eyes and took a series of shallow breaths, still fighting not to give deep ones in order not to disturb his ribs. He was aware of what he was doing was dangerous, but he couldn't bear the pain that lingered when the drugs began to fade.

Kensi took one of his hands and stroked it with her thumb, trying to calm the uneasiness she could hear in his voice. She could feel all the scars that adorned the skin, some small, some very big considering the small space in which they resided.

"I'm not really sure, sweetheart. But you don't have to worry, okay?" That was the last thing they needed. However, she was sure that he had to find out at some point. Sooner or later she didn't know, but it had to happen.

**+-+-+-+-+DL-+-+-+-+-+**

Heavy footsteps and the door opening interrupted the conversation between the males inside the Computer room.

The taller male, whose brown eyes had been studying the screens until that moment, turned towards the black male, arms crossed over his chest as he rested against a table, like he usually did.

"Hey, Sam." He greeted, while the blond male, sporting a Hawaiian shirt, kept on looking at the screen in front of him.

Sam eyed the screens, watching the pictures of the rooms where different people had been held captive, along with some knives shining with blood of John Miller's victims that they had found on the last crime scene. On Eric's computer, however, some sort of DNA recognition software was acting up.

"So, what exactly is going on?" The dark-skinned man asked to both men, his face impassive. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking at them expectantly. He really wanted to be over with this.

After a small pause, in which the Senior Agent could see his co-workers were getting their own facts straight, the blond man finally talked, barely turning away from his monitor.

"The forensic analyst found a silicone mask covering the perpetrator's face." He said, clicking a button on the keyboard in front of him, which caused a picture to appear, covering some of the pictures of former victims. "This is how the man actually looks like."

All three of them turned to find a man that was easily in his forties, the beard that had begun to have gray hair around Miller's mouth replaced by a cleanly shaved face. The skin tone was only slightly lighter, and a few wrinkles were beginning to appear around the man's eyes.

Sam shook his head slowly. "How come no one warned me before? It's been almost two weeks!"

"Well, you know we always run the DNA of the bodies we bring in, right? It's protocol." The blond continued, to which Sam nodded "That's the scary part; this guy's DNA came out exactly the same as what was registered as Miller's." The man paused a second, letting the information be digested before he began talking again. "At first we thought Miller had changed his appearance, but then it made no sense that he wore a mask to resemble his last one." Eric finally took a deep breath, and looked back at the Agent in charge, as if to be sure he was following. "So… I sent the DNA samples to Abby Sciuto, and she found some… very minor discrepancies."

"Like something a twin would have?" Wondered Sam, eyeing the screen in front of the blond like it would solve his doubts.

"Yes… but no." Began the curly-haired man. "Even Identical twins' DNA differs, and these variations can be caught easily. This one took Abby quite a few sleepless nights, and even then, she said she had a hard time seeing them."

"How did that happen, Nate?"

The tallest male shrugged, and shook his head, indicating that he did not know the answer. "We're working on that."

"Abby's helping!" Piped in Eric, trying to ease the heavy mood the room had fallen into.

Great. Just _great_. The Agent in Charge sighed and looked at the screens a few more seconds, eyes hard. _Now what?_ The man was alive, no doubt about that now. And who knew what he was doing? He could have moved on to another victim, and the team's only worry would be to catch him as soon as possible, but serial killers, and torturers, like this man, were often stubborn and peculiar about their works, and it was more than acceptable to think that this guy—

Sam shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking. The boy _had_ to be safe, one way or another; he couldn't allow anything else to harm him.

"How can I help?" He asked, finally uncrossing his arms and placing them on the cold metallic table.

The alluded looked at each other, and then back at Sam. Nate placed his hand near his mouth, like he was going to bite the knuckle of his index finger while Eric just signed to the man that it was the Psychologist's place to speak.

Sam looked at the tallest man, waiting for an answer. His patience was wearing thin, why couldn't just tell him, instead of dancing around the subject like he was going to lash out at them if there were bad news? They weren't at fault, the black man knew that. He wasn't going to hurt them if there was a problem. At least he would try to control himself. Probably.

"Well, do you think the boy is capable of positively identifying this body?" Asked Nate.

_Capable? Physically or—?_

"Mentally capable, Sam." It was one of those moments where the Agent wondered if his co-worker could read minds.

He had to think about that one. _Could he? No, probably not._ He shook his head. The kid had been scared to death of something he had imagined, if he were to take him and see a body that was, in some way, connected to a bad memory during the last two months and a half of his life, G would really have a breakdown.

Shaking his head once more, he shoved his hands into his jeans' pockets. No. He wasn't going to let G see something like that.

Eric sighed inaudibly and looked back into his monitor. "I'm going to keep this running, if I have something to inform you about, I'll call you, okay?"

Sam nodded and thanked the blond before turning around and starting his walk to leave. He could hear footsteps behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Psychologist, who was following him closely.

"Can I talk with you for a minute?" Nate asked once they were outside, and the door had closed behind them.

With no more words exchanged, the tallest male began walking faster, putting himself in front of the field agent to guide the older man to his office.

Slightly annoyed, more about the current situation than to have to talk to the psychologist, Sam followed quietly, eyeing the general direction where he knew G was at the moment as he walked behind Nate.

The office was, one had to admit, strangely cozy. In the middle of the room, covering the maroon tiles was a Persian rug, of which design consisted on medium-sized squares of very faded blue, red, yellow, and brown framed by a square with complicated designs in brown and dark red. A wooden coffee table was placed on top of it, and at the end closer to the door, a maroon leather sofa with a wooden base rested. In front of the wall farthest from the door was a dark wooden desk with a comfortable looking chair behind it, while two antique looking bookshelves, also made of wood, rested against the wall that was right in front of the door.

The two men walked inside, and, after a quick glance at each other, both sat down on the couch, leaning to opposite sides to be able to see one another better.

Sam could hear the tick-tack of the clock located on Nate's desk as the silence extended itself over the two males. He began tapping a finger against the couch, looking at the younger man with his eyebrows slightly raised as he waited for the Psychologist to say something. Nate, however, was occupied studying Sam's face, like he was trying to get some answer to an unasked question in the dark, tired eyes.

"How is G, Sam?" Nate finally asked, uncrossing his arms and placing them on his crossed legs instead.

"Anxious. Tired, I guess."

Nate nodded. That was a normal reaction. Kensi had told him about it, too, when he had asked, so it was no news to him.

"Has he presented insomnia, vomiting, or nightmares?"

Sam nodded immediately. "He hasn't thrown up, but almost every time he tries to go to sleep he has nightmares, so he refuses to do it."

Almost as if to show he already knew that he was going to say that, Nate simply sighed slightly and nodded his head once more. He stayed quiet for a few minutes, elbows propped on his knees and his chin resting on top of his hands.

Why was it so hard? He had dealt with these situations before he ever worked at the OSP; patients would come to him; tell him about the many terrors they had after being beaten or sexually abused, and he had always been able to give advice, and help the patient through it… so why did it feel so strange talking about the situation with Sam?

Perhaps because he was his friend. The psychologist believed that the fact that Sam felt such a protective connection to the boy made it harder to discuss. He knew all the black male wanted at that point was to keep G protected and to help him out of his current situation.

"Tell me everything G has said or done you think is important." He once again looked at the man sitting next to him.

The older man rolled his eyes slightly as he suppressed a tiny smile; this was so common on Nate, trying to find out everything about a person, which he thought could help. But as he remembered, the small gesture turned into a frown.

"He's jumpy all the time." He started, his arms slowly moving to cross over his chest by pure reflex "He trembles sometimes; mostly it's not noticeable unless I'm holding him, but sometimes it is visible. He cries a lot, thinks everything he does could be wrong and gets worried, sometimes I seriously believe that he thinks I'm going to strike him." Sam paused, letting the words sink in, mostly because now that he heard himself say it, he could see how wrong it sounded. Him striking the poor boy. He shook his head slightly. "He holds on to my arm like it is a lifeline when we're on the street. He says Miller is in his room; that he can see him… he is scared to be touched pretty much by everyone who isn't Kensi or me. Just discovered that he doesn't handle crowds well; he had a mini-breakdown a few minutes ago." He sighed, finally realizing the full extent of G's trauma. It was so much, what the kid was enduring, and he couldn't do that much about it. "He doesn't talk. He talks to me, but he just started talking to Kensi yesterday. And he won't say a word to anyone else. And, uh, when he was still in the hospital I went to buy him some clothes that he could wear when he left… and I left him with Kensi and Deeks. When I returned, his breathing was all over the place; he had gotten up from the bed and backed up against the wall… he was crying… complete panic, Nate." _Damn. _

That was the only thing that Sam could think about at the moment.

_Damn the-son-of-a-bitch who had done this to the little boy._

**+-+-+-+-+G-+-+-+-+-+**

Where on Earth did she come from? Did she pop out of thin air? I can't see her arrive, but suddenly she is there, holding a steaming, delicate looking mug in front of me. My eyes sting; and I am sure they are going to tear up soon, but I can see the woman is smiling at me.

_Ugh… _ I try to move my arms, but they won't respond. Why won't they? I sniffle as I recognize her. She's the one who gave Sam my adoption papers. Does she know Sam? I cough, but it's Kensi who covers my mouth. I can feel my ribs burning holes in my skin. It doesn't hurt, but it's a feeling that I wish I didn't have.

"That's an interesting companion you've got there," The short woman says, looking at my arms. I hold Astra closer to me. "A tiger. Magnificent creatures. They signify invincibility, loyalty, courage, and strength," She nods. _Is she talking to herself? _But she gives me a smile, so she is talking to me, I think. "Is there a reason you chose this particular toy?"

_Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know… I don't remember._

I drop my eyes. I can't talk to her. I can't.

The mug is pressed to my lips, and a sweet, hot liquid, eases its way into my mouth. My first instinct is to shrink away, and the cup leaves my mouth quickly.

"Don't you worry, young man, this will help you." The woman of the papers says, and the small smile doesn't leave her face. It's not a scary smile; it's kind, like she really is concerned. I believe her.

I can't keep my eyes open. But I have to. I sniffle, and the cup is back in my lips. I don't fight it, and the liquid really tastes great.

I feel a hand in my head, and that's when I realize my eyes are closed. I open them. Kensi is smiling at me. Her hand is the one I felt; she is caressing my hair. I want to smile back, but I my face won't cooperate.

"Mr. Callen." I hear a voice say.

My eyes move on their own, and I find the face of the new woman. She's older than what I thought.

"Would you mind me giving that knee a check up?" She barely moves her head, but I can see that she is pointing to my leg. I can't help a small smile; I never let anyone touch my leg, because nobody ever asked me if they could, they just assumed they had permission, so I always yelled, and Sam always appeared and made the doctors leave. I nod at her. She was nice enough to ask.

"Miss Blye, would you keep giving him the medicine?" She says, passing the mug to Kensi, and taking the ice pack away from my knee. _Medicine? It doesn't taste like medicine._

I hiss when she touches me; it burns. She watches me for a second, but then looks back at my knee. The woman moves it, gentler, I can tell, but the throbbing warmth doesn't stop. I close my eyes and take as deep of a breath as I can.

_Where's Sam?_ I can't help thinking that.

I try to lean back, but there's a pain in my back stopping me from completely lean against the cushion Kensi put there for me. The mug is back at my lips, and I slowly drink the liquid. It can't be medicine, it tastes like tea.

Why does she have to help me? It's so strange. Not many people have helped me before.

I have to insist to myself not to close my eyes, but apparently I'm stubborn. My lids are so heavy, my arms won't move, my back and my knee hurt, and this place is so cold… I'm not a democracy, though, and I don't want to sleep. Not here, not with all those people that could hurt me.

_Where's Sam?_

**+-+-+-+-+DL-+-+-+-+-+**

"Ah, doctors these days!" Hetty exclaimed, making sure she placed the leg in a position where it wouldn't be uncomfortable before letting go and placing the ice pack back on the joint.

Kensi looked at the older woman questioningly, but that earned her nothing more than a scowl as Hetty eyed the boy's leg, while she shook her head slightly. G's eyes were trying hard to focus on her, but his body seemed to be crying out in tiredness, and the boy was beginning to lose the battle.

"These muscles are not recovered yet!" The woman motioned with her hand to the knee as she pursed her lips disapprovingly. After a moment, which seemed to be a staring contest between her and G's articulation, Hetty finally straightened, "I will be right back."

In a flash, the now-empty mug had been taken from Kensi's hands and the diminutive woman had disappeared as suddenly as she had gotten there.

G sucked in a breath, and, with a trembling hand, he weakly reached to clean some of the sweat out of his face. He shivered as he turned his head towards Kensi, who had her phone out and was staring at it with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

He hid his hands under his armpits, trying to get some heat on them, but the cold he was feeling was strange, almost like it was coming from inside him, and the appendages remained frigid. _Take the ice off me._

Noticing this, the young woman pocketed her cell and reached for one of the boy's hands, holding it between her own and rubbing it slightly in an attempt to "warm" it. She looked over at the knee her boss had examined, trying not to wince when, instead, she caught a glimpse of a nasty cut that was showing where the khaki shorts had been moved up by the boy's movement, and she couldn't help but wonder how many more of those injuries the clothes were covering.

Out of the corner of his eye, G managed to see Sam walking hurriedly towards the entrance, and, without knowing where the energy had come from, he sat up a little straighter, confused as to why the man seemed to be leaving without him. _What's going on?_

He didn't notice the salty liquid running down his cheeks until Kensi wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him close.

"It's okay, baby, you're fine." She whispered in his ear.

But it wasn't fine! Sam was leaving.

And proved wrong he was when the large man walked into the small space a few minutes later. His hands were occupied with various folders, a doughnut with a napkin resting on top of them.

The man's eyes widened in surprise at the scene. He was quick in leaving the documents on the coffee table closest to G's head as the blue eyes followed all his movements, and crouched down so that he would be at the boy's eye level, Sam grabbing the teen's arm in quiet comfort, dark eyes searching blue ones.

Kensi did not stop her soothing movements, only pausing the rubbing on the teen's back to collect the ice pack that had fallen on Callen's lap at his sudden movements. She placed it in the table located at her left and then looked at the blond, noticing that his tears were slowing down.

G remained silent, eyes averting from both concerned stares, not wanting to worry the adults even further with his tears. He reached up weakly and cleaned the moisture from his face, giving a final exhale before looking up once more. Eyes bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep.

Sam mentally kicked himself for the second time that morning, feeling even more like an asshole for waking the boy up than he had before.

"You okay?" He asked, sitting down in the space left free by G's body without letting go of the thin arm.

He nodded, though his mind screamed at him that he was a liar.

The black man reached to grab the doughnut he had left on top of the papers, and slid his hand down to hold G's. He placed the sweet bread on it, and watched how the short teen brought it to his mouth taking a few bites off it before looking like he couldn't eat more.

It was Kensi who took away the doughnut, watching how Sam sat down and, with movements more careful than what she had ever seen on him, sat the boy on his lap.

"Go to sleep, I promise I'll be here." The man whispered to the boy. He just wanted the kid to get some sleep, maybe then he wouldn't feel so guilty about making him wake up. Besides, he knew that the more he slept, the faster he would get better.

G could barely keep his eyes open, much less argue, so even when he tried to fight the urge of seeping, as he noticed Kensi was still there, the boy slowly lost consciousness.

The adults waited a few minutes, just to be safe their voices wouldn't wake up the thirteen-year-old. Kensi smiled when she saw the teen's eyes finally closed.

"Where's Deeks?" Was the question that broke the silence, though Sam's volume was hushed.

"Would you believe he was _arrested_?" The woman asked back, rolling her eyes.

* * *

_You know, I had to investigate about RUGS for like three hours just to decide which one Hetty would choose for Nate's office _ And I'm not sure I picked correctly. If anyone wants pics of the furniture, PM me and we'll talk, because last time I tried to give a link, it didn't work._

_Yay Hetty! I managed to introduce her! I hope you liked her, she is hard to write =/_

_Also, yes, G does know what tea tastes like. I mean… not all his foster parents were jerks._

_This might be important… (or it might not) So, I don't really remember if the Christmas episode happened before Missing, between Missing and Found, or after Found, but I'm going to pretend it's November… 24 in this story. This means you can at least have a general idea of the weather (then again, it's LA, it's pretty much the same through the year)._

The usual question! **Would you prefer three or four (of whatever)?**

Thanks for taking the time to read this!


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